Try searching for something like a refurbished Nikon D50. I belive these sell for about £250 with kit lens(18-55mm f/3.5-5.6).

Not as new as D40/D40x but still an excellent camera for the price. It also has the drive motor on the camera body which means you get full autofocus on older lenses too. (D40/x can only autofocus with the more expensive lenses housing their own AF-motors).

The camera output seems weighted towards saturation and picture quality is very good.


edit: set aside £80 for the awesome 50mm f/1.8 prime.