April 5 - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

Marathon Oil has submitted plans to shut down its giant Brae Field 168 miles northeast of Aberdeen after suffering a series of gas leaks on ageing production platforms.(http://bit.ly/1RYmWO1)

The chief executive of William Hill James Henderson has hailed a "game-changing deal" after it invested in NYX Gaming as part of the latter's 270 million pound acquisition of OpenBet. (http://bit.ly/1qqzvVV)

The Guardian

Airbus, which employs 15,000 people in the UK to design and manufacture aircraft wings, has told its staff that a vote to leave the EU could choke off future investment in the UK. (http://bit.ly/23b2M5c)

The new chief executive of Marks & Spencer, Steve Rowe, has signalled he is prepared to make changes to the way the retailer is run by retaining personal control of the troubled clothing division.(http://bit.ly/1Ma4qjn)

The Telegraph

The Government must step in to maintain production at Tata's loss-making UK plants or risk customers abandoning them, signing a death warrant for the British steel industry, unions have warned as the crisis engulfing the sector intensifies. (http://bit.ly/1UR1FX7)

Jitters over the health of the Chinese economy could trigger a bloodbath on financial markets if a hard landing materialises, the International Monetary Fund has warned. (http://bit.ly/1Vro8Zv)

Sky News

InterContinental Exchange has reached agreement with Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ to provide part of the debt that will be required to finance an offer for the LSE Group. (http://bit.ly/1V4Gnos)

The chief executive of BT Group Gavin Patterson has accused ministers of failing to acknowledge its efforts to overhaul Britain's broadband infrastructure as regulators mull tougher oversight of the former state monopoly.(http://bit.ly/23bFJr1)

The Independent

Chapel Down, a British leading wine producer based in Kent, has raised 1.7 million pound from new shares and a crowdfunding campaign to build a new beer and cider brewery. (http://ind.pn/1MOBLAk)

Alaska Air has reached a deal to buy Virgin America for $2.6 billion and the merger airline will become the fifth largest in the United States. (http://ind.pn/1PQoou7) (Compiled by Vishal Sridhar; Editing by Sandra Maler)