Sir Philip Green calls for BHS inquiry chairman to resign amid prejudice allegations

Sir Philip Green, the former boss of BHS, has called for the chairman of the inquiry into the beleaguered high-street retailer to resign, claiming he was "clearly prejudiced".

Frank Field MP, of the the Work and Pensions Committee, said he believed the former BHS owner should be stripped of his knighthood over the £571m ($826m) pension fund black hole.

However, speaking for the first time since the collapse of BHS, Green described the comments as an "outrageous burst", which showed Field was "clearly prejudiced".

"I am horrified that Frank Field is prepared to make comments like this in public," the former BHS owner said. "Clearly he has already made his decision as to what he feels the punishment should be without even hearing any evidence from anybody about BHS or the circumstances of the last 15 years."

The 88-year-old business entered administration on 25 April, putting 11,000 jobs across the UK at risk, after the embattled retailer failed to reach a last-minute deal to stay afloat.

Green, who sold the retailer to Dominic Chappell, head of business Retail Acquisitions, for £1 in 2015, last week agreed to appear in front of the Work and Pensions Committee and the Business Innovation and Skills Committee to be questioned about the collapse.

However, in a letter to the chairmen of the House of Commons Work and Pensions and Business Committees, Green said both Field and Iain Wright MP, who chairs the latter, were "leaping to conclusions" over his role with the retailer.

"These statements suggest that you are leaping to conclusions before any evidence from any witness has been heard," Green wrote in response to Field's suggestions that he met the £571m cost of the BHS pension fund.

"They suggest that there will be no real attempt to run your inquiries in a fair way and that the outcome is pre-determined."

Green, however, added he welcomed the opportunity to help committees that were "genuinely intended to get to the truth in a fair and balanced way and on the basis of actual facts."

A committee source insisted that Field's comments, which were made during an interview with the Financial Times, were made entirely in a personal capacity.