Feb 26 - 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 Telegraph

BRITAIN'S GROWTH PROSPECTS UPGRADED BY EUROPEAN COMMISSION

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The European Commission expects Britain to grow by 2.5 percent in 2014, compared with a forecast of 2.2 percent in November. Its forecast for 2015 was unchanged at 2.4 percent.

DIXONS AND CARPHONE MERGER COULD FACE COMPETITION INVESTIGATION

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A potential merger between Dixons and Carphone Warehouse is likely to face an investigation by Britain's competition authorities, analysts have warned.

The Guardian

LONDON'S BUY-TO-LET RENTS DOUBLE THAT OF REST OF UK, SAYS LENDER

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Landlords taking on new buy-to-let properties in London are charging twice as much rent as those in the rest of the country, according to data from one of Britain's biggest buy-to-let lenders, BM Solutions.

ROYAL MAIL: COALITION ACCUSED OVER 'POLITICAL' FLOTATION

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The government faced fresh accusations of short-changing the taxpayer over the Royal Mail float on Tuesday after it was revealed that bankers valued the company at up to 8.6 billion pounds when approached months before the float went ahead.

The Times

TESCO UNDERCUT BY ASDA AS IT STARTS HIGH-STREET PRICE WAR

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The opening salvo in a supermarket price war was fired by Tesco as it announced a multimillion pound investment in price cuts. Britain's biggest supermarket said it would spend more than 200 million pounds lowering prices.

COBHAM REPORTS "IRREGULAR" SALES OF SPY-TRACKING KIT

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Cobham is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over sales of its satellite tracking devices used by spies, emergency services, mining enterprises and oil and gas companies around the world.

Sky News

RBS REACHES DEAL TO AWARD £550M BONUS POT

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Royal Bank of Scotland is to pay approximately 550 million pounds for 2013 after securing the agreement of the Treasury agency that is its biggest shareholder.

BOOHOO LURES EX-ASOS DIRECTOR FOR 500 MLN STG IPO

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A former director of the online fashion retailer Asos is to become chairman of rival Boohoo.com as it finalises plans for a stock market flotation valuing it at 500 million pounds.