LONDON- Two British government bond auctions on Tuesday drew the strongest demand since a record high three weeks ago, as Bank of England asset-buying continued to underpin the market at a time of record issuance to fund COVID-19 spending.

Investors bid for more than triple the volume of gilts on offer at both an auction of nine-year benchmark giltsand the first sale of inflation-linked government bonds since the BoE launched its 200 billion pounds bond purchase programme.

The 3 billion pounds ($3.75 billion) of the 0.875% 2029 gilt sold at an average yield of 0.261% and a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.19.

The 0.125% 2028 index-linked gilt drew bids worth 3.38 the 1.2 billion pounds on offer, and had a real, inflation-adjusted yield of -2.509%.

An auction of 10-year gilts on April 8 met record demand of 3.85, just weeks after gilt prices had been on track for their biggest slide since 1998, until the BoE stepped in to stop the rise in yields with its asset purchases. ($1 = 0.8004 pounds)

(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by Kate Holton) ((david.milliken@reuters.com; +44 20 7542 5109; Reuters Messaging: david.milliken.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))