Sports Direct boss told to explain spy camera

The boss of Sports Direct attempted to claim MPs had planted a spy camera in their own meeting during a spot check to one of his warehouses.

Mr Ashley alleged members of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, who had been checking up on working practises at the firm, had buried the camera, found under a pile of sandwiches, themselves.

He made the claim during a phone call with the chairman of the committee Iain Wright, shortly after an MP, who had been at the private meeting, exposed the spy attempt on Twitter (Xetra: A1W6XZ - news) .

The chairman of the committee Iain Wright disclosed details of the allegations, in a letter to Mr Ashley demanding to know why and how the camera came to be in the room and who authorised it.

He said he assumed Mr Ashley's claim was "a spur of the moment misjudgement rather than what would be a very serious allegation, especially given that the recording device was the same as that used by your staff to record our visit around the warehouse".

Mr Wright described the plant as an "utterly unacceptable action" and said "it is difficult to understand how a representative of the company thought that such an action would assist Sports Direct and why this action was authorised".

And he warned Mr Ashley that the attempt to bug the meeting of MPs would lead other investors and business partners to assume their conversations may have been recorded.

He also cautioned that the committee had the power to "highlight your progress" but also to criticise "when matters have not improved".

In a statement on Tuesday , Mr Ashley responded to the claims saying the people of Sports Direct, which has been strongly criticised for its treatment of workers, had been made a "political football".

He said the board "did not authorise or have any knowledge of the possible recording device".

Redcar MP Anna Turley, who was on the visit, said: "We had a positive tour around, we got to speak to a lot of the workforce and we got to see a lot of people who were very positive about the brand.

"Then at the end of the meeting we sat down to have a private conversation in a room by ourselves, a lady came in with some sandwiches - which was very kind - and I saw her put a recording device on the floor.

"When she left the room I went over to pick it up and there it was: a camera and a recording device. Very disappointing."

Mr Wright pointed out in his letter that during Mr Ashley's appearance in front of the committee he had agreed MPs could visit his Shirebrook warehouse unannounced.

Mr Ashley had long resisted the requests to appear in front of MPs after allegations of poor treatment of staff.