PRESS DIGEST-British Business - October 6

Oct 6 (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

- UK bookmaker Entain's boss Stella David said hitting the industry in next month's budget could make the company reconsider its investment in the UK and close shops.

- Jim Ratcliffe's chemicals empire, Ineos, has frozen hiring across its businesses as the group focuses on reducing a debt pile of more than 11 billion euros ($12.90 billion).

The Guardian

- China threatened to retaliate against the UK government if ministers targeted parts of its security apparatus under foreign influence rules, the Guardian can disclose.

The Telegraph

- Sir Mel Stride, the UK shadow chancellor, will promise in his Conservative Party conference speech on Monday to strip foreigners of the right to welfare payments in a package of reforms.

- The CEO of an independent British Oil producer, which is buying North Sea assets owned by Shell SHEL.L, banked on facilities that "never existed" to support his acquisition of RockRose, a rival oil and gas company, in 2020.

Sky News

- UK chancellor Rachel Reeves and Anthony Gutman, one of Goldman Sachs' GS.N top investment bankers, will on Monday promote the City to a group of companies which are considering public share listings.

- Heidi, a tech startup which promises to reduce doctors' workloads by removing layers of bureaucracy from their daily tasks, will unveil a $65 million Series B fundraising which will value the company at $465 million.

($1 = 0.7440 pounds)

($1 = 0.8529 euros)