"...occasionally does that throw out a negative response which is when they start asking for Driving Licence or other hard proof of address".
Every UK bank, every time, for a new account applicant, will always ask for residence confirmation, it does not stop at an electoral roll and credit check.
"...you need to find a bank ...that has no objection to a foreign address."
That doesn't exist under the banks' current guidelines under which UK residence is a prerequisite of all the UK banks for new accounts.