High street retailer Debenhams has been "named and shamed" as the worst offender in the Government's biggest ever list of companies that have paid their staff below the national minimum and living wage.

The department store chain has been found to have failed to pay £134,894.83 to some 11,858 workers in a move that will heighten tensions around retailers and the rising costs of the living wage.

The Government introduced its naming and shaming scheme in 2013 and so far more than 1,000 employers have been named for underpaying staff more than £4.5m in total. There are a further 1,500 cases which HM Revenue and Customs is investigating.

Excuses for underpaying workers have included making staff pay for their own uniforms out of their salary and docking workers' wages to pay for their Christmas party.

Debenhams blamed the case on a "technical error in its payroll calculations" and said the mistake had led to an average underpayment of around £10 per person which had been paid immediately after an HMRC audit discovered the problem.