Lawyers acting for Sir Philip Green have demanded an apology from Birkenhead MP Frank Field over comments he made about the way the tycoon handled the general business and sale of BHS.

In a BBC Radio 4 Today programme interview Mr Field said Sir Philip is "much worse" than media mogul Robert Maxwell, who raided the pension pot of the Mirror Group newspaper business.

He described the former BHS boss as a "Napoleon figure" floating around on his yacht, having "orchestrated" an "old-fashioned classical asset-stripping" which has put the jobs of 11,000 workers at risk and left 22,000 pensioners with a risky future.

A letter from legal firm Schillings said Mr Field had made a "highly defamatory and completely false" allegation that Sir Philip had stolen money from the pension funds of the BHS and Arcadia retail groups.

Pointing out that Mr Field's comments were not protected by parliamentary privilege, the letter said: "In the circumstances, our client requires an immediate and fulsome apology in relation to the allegation."

In a hint at possible legal action, the letter said: "The other remedies to which our client is clearly entitled will very much depend on form and manner of your response."

A joint Work and Pensions and Business, Innovation and Skills Commons committee report came days after the Cabinet Office disclosed it was reviewing Sir Philip’s knighthood.

Sir Philip lashed out at the report insisting that it was a "predetermined and inaccurate output of a biased and unfair process."

He insisted he is "trying to find a solution" for the collapsed firm's pension fund and apologised to staff caught up in the "horrid story".

He acknowledged that selling the high street chain to Dominic Chappell's Retail Acquisitions firm was "a very bad choice" and he felt "badly let down."

Downing Street said the MPs' report was "clearly concerning" and Prime Minister Theresa May would "lean lessons for the future" from the committees' inquiry.