FTSE up 1.1 pct at midday, near 14-month high

* FTSE breaches 5,300 level

* Miners, oils lead gains as commodity prices rally

* Defensive drugmakers and tobacco firms fall

By Harpreet Bhal

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Britain's leading shares hit a 14-month high by midday on Monday, up for a fourth straight day as miners and energy stocks rose on an improved demand outlook and a weaker dollar, while risk-sensitive banks also gained.

At 1220 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 1.1 percent, or 55.77 points at 5,352.15, extending gains from Friday when the index hit its highest since September 2008.

Dollar weakness helped support a rally in metals prices, and gold hit a record high above $1,130 an ounce, giving strength to mining stocks. Rio Tinto (RIO.L), Xstrata (XTA.L), Randgold Resources (RRS.L) and Antofagasta (ANTO.L) were up 4.3 to 6 percent.

Lonmin (LMI.L) topped the index leader board, up 8.2 percent, as the world's third biggest platinum producer said it planned to boost output by a fifth by 2013 as prices climb on shortages, while it posted a swing to an annual loss. [ID:nLC466308]

The blue-chip index is up 20.7 percent this year and has gained almost 55 percent since touching a six-year trough in March.

Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index said the FTSE's rally has coincided with a fall in the VIX volatility index .VIX -- down 23.9 percent so far this month -- indicating risk wariness among investors was subsiding.

"Now that we have broken through the 5,300 level, a lot of investors are thinking we can keep going higher and higher. A lot of people are jumping back on to the recovery bandwagon," he said.

Energy firms were big winners, underpinned by crude prices CLc1, rising above $77 a barrel on the back of a weak dollar. BG Group (BG.L), BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L) and Tullow Oil (TLW.L) put on 0.7 to 1.4 percent.

Banking stocks were led higher by a 2 percent rise in heavyweight HSBC (HSBA.L), which added to gains from last week when it released a strong third-quarter update.

Barclays (BARC.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) were up 1.3 and 0.8 percent, respectively.

A government source said the British government would this week outline legislation allowing consumers to group together to claim damages from financial institutions that mislead customers over financial products. [ID:nLG344902]