Sir Philip Green's Knighthood Under Review

Sir Philip Green's knighthood is being reviewed in the wake of the collapse of BHS, it has emerged.

A Cabinet Office official disclosed in a letter to Labour MP Jim McMahon that the case of the former department store chain boss is under consideration.

Mr McMahon was among a group of MPs who wrote to the Honours Forfeiture Committee calling for Sir Philip to be stripped of his knighthood, which was awarded for his services to retail in 2006.

Sir Philip has been criticised over the way he sold BHS for £1 to Dominic Chappell, a former bankrupt with no retail experience.

The collapse left a £571m pension black hole and 11,000 jobs facing the axe.

In the letter, the Cabinet Office official wrote: "I hope you will understand that I cannot comment on the particular circumstances of Sir Philip, but I can assure you that the case is being reviewed."

The disclosure comes just days before the publication of what is expected to be a highly critical joint report by two Commons select committees on the store chain's collapse.

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "Applications for forfeiture are considered by an independent committee.

"They have been clear that they will not consider reviewing an honour until any formal reviews or investigations which establish the facts of a case have been completed.

"However, we continue to keep the case under review."

Last week, Sir Philip hit back at an MP leading one of the inquiries.

Frank Field, chairman of the work and pensions committee, accused Sir Philip's Arcadia empire of "nicking money" and called for a "very large cheque" from the Green family to fill the pensions black hole left by the retailer's collapse.

But Sir Philip said it was an "outrageous outburst" and that "accusing me and my family of theft is totally false and unacceptable".