Dominic Chappell, former owner of the collapsed retail chain BHS, tried to take a vacation to the Bahamas on company money, according to written evidence submitted to MPs.

Ex-BHS chief executive Darren Topp accused Chappell of treating the firm's money as his own and alleged that he had taken a £90,000 (€109,000; $120,000) loan from the retailer to pay a personal tax bill.

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"This was at a time when cash resources were limited and needed to pay both suppliers and employees payroll," he was quoted as saying by the Guardian.

"Chappell saw no distinction between the company's money and his own personal money; he saw them as one and the same. The level of financial governance shown by Chappell was very poor."

Topp added that Chappell had created a "nepotistic environment" at BHS since taking over the firm in 2015, putting his friends and family members in charge of key positions.

However, the former Retail Acquisitions director denied the allegations, calling them "pathetic and petty".

"It is absolutely childish for Darren Topp to suggest this when he often acted against the board's decisions," Chappell was reported as saying.

"If these are the only two points that Darren Topp can find to suggest that I was running BHS bank account as my own bank account, it's pathetic and petty."

BHS filed for administration in April – putting 11,000 jobs and 20,000 pensions at risk.

The company was bought by Chappell's Retail Acquisitions consortium in 2015 for just £1 from Green, even though Chappell had been declared bankrupt twice before and had no previous experience in retail.