Aug 15 (Reuters) - 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

About 120,000 businesses that missed a tax deadline will escape a fine after HM Revenue & Customs said it would show leniency before a possible no-deal Brexit. http://bit.ly/2H7qYSF

The UK government's decision to award the contract to run the west coast main line and HS2 railways to FirstGroup Plc and Trenitalia, Italy's government-backed operator of Frecciarossa high-speed trains, could end up in the courts. http://bit.ly/2Z8hk8y

The Guardian

More than 100 million pounds ($120.60 million) suspected to have been imported to the UK from bribery and corruption overseas has been frozen following a court order obtained by the National Crime Agency. http://bit.ly/2H6k9B1

House prices have fallen across the south of England for the first time since the last recession in 2009, data published by Office of National Statistics on Wednesday showed, as Brexit uncertainty holds down the property market. http://bit.ly/2H7slAS

The Telegraph

WeWork burned through $905 million in the first six months of this year as it raced to justify its mammoth valuation ahead of a highly anticipated stock market debut. http://bit.ly/2H5D7HG

Fleet Street veteran David Montgomery is on the brink of a comeback with plans to target struggling newspaper publishers in a takeover spree as he attempts to build a new digital giant, to be called National World. http://bit.ly/2H5p7hq

Sky News

Britain's power grid operator National Grid Plc has ruled out renewables as the reason behind last week's power cut. National Grid's chief executive officer, John Pettigrew, told Sky News there was "nothing to indicate there is anything to do with the fact that we're moving to more wind or more solar" power. http://bit.ly/2Z1j0Rn

BI Wines & Spirits Ltd, chaired and part-owned by Michael Spencer, is engineering a bid for the fine wine merchant Lay & Wheeler Ltd, a division of Naked Wines Plc, being sold as part of its owner's transformation into an online-only business. http://bit.ly/2Z1jy9T

The Independent

The former Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston has joined the Liberal Democrats, the party announced on Wednesday. http://bit.ly/2H6wTYk

A planned pay-dispute strike of around 4,000 members of the Unite union on Aug. 23 and 24 at Heathrow involving security staff has been suspended, another at Gatwick called off entirely, and there has been no announcement, so far, of industrial action by British Airways' pilots. http://bit.ly/2H5BGJi ($1 = 0.8292 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)