Hotel row threatens Welteke

GERMANY'S top central banker, Bundesbank president Ernst Welteke, was under fierce pressure to quit last night. The Bundesbank board meets today to consider his future after a row over a £5,000 hotel bill for his family paid by Dresdner Bank two years ago.

Dresdner is regulated by the Bundesbank, the equivalent of the Bank of England. It paid for Welteke and his family to stay in Berlin's luxury Adlon hotel. Welteke issued a long apology last night and said: 'I don't exclude resignation.'

Frankfurt's public prosecutor is investigating. Welteke, who also sits on the European Central Bank's governing council, initially sought to defuse the row. With help from the Bundesbank he repaid the money. But politicians are already talking of who will succeed him.