The retailer have threatened The Sunday Telegraph with possible legal action, after it ran a story over the weekend which claimed that owner Mike Ashley was looking to close the struggling House of Fraser department store chain.

According to the story, Ashley is either not paying rent or is about to end House of Fraser leases “for the vast majority” of the remaining sites, including 59 stores, three office buildings and two warehouses, in the new year.

The story also refers to “fresh papers from administrators EY”, which it claimed backed up its story.