LONDON- The Bank of England said on Thursday that it intended to buy 765 million pounds ($986 million) of British government bonds over the next three months as part of its regular investment of its free capital and reserves.

The purchases are separate from the BoE's 745 billion-pound quantitative easing programme which it has ramped up to help the economy weather the shock of the coronavirus lockdown. ($1 = 0.7759 pounds)

(Writing by William Schomberg, editing by David Milliken) ((william.schomberg@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 7778; Reuters Messaging: william.schomberg.reuters.com@reuters.net))