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Controversial Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley has apologised for "ill-judged and poorly timed" emails to Government in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

And the under-fire Newcastle owner has also said sorry for poor communications to employees and the public, as the growing crisis continues to wreak havoc all over the globe.

In an open letter, the majority owner of Frasers Group revealed he has offered the company's "entire fleet of lorries" to the NHS to help deliver medical supplies and equipment.

It comes after the businessman faced fierce criticism from MPs after he tried to claim Sports Direct was an essential operator for keeping the nation fit, before performing a U-turn to close his stores.

In the letter, Newcastle owner Ashley said: "Our intentions were only to seek clarity from the Government as to whether we should keep some of our stores open; we would never have acted against their advice.

(Image: REUTERS)

"In hindsight, our emails to the Government were ill-judged and poorly timed, when they clearly had much greater pressures than ours to deal with.

"On top of this, our communications to our employees and the public on this was poor.

"To reiterate, I am deeply apologetic about the misunderstandings of the last few days. We will learn from this and will try not to make the same mistakes in the future."

(Image: Jon Corken/Grimsby Live)

On Thursday, it emerged that Sports Direct warehouse workers in Derbyshire are continuing to work amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The company finds itself accused of ignoring government guidelines, designed to prevent the spread of the deadly COVID-19 disease.

The Unite union claim that some workers with underlying health conditions have been threatened with dismissal if they attempt to self isolate.

(Image: REUTERS)

Sports Direct's giant Shirebrook warehouse, at New Brook Business Park, in Derbyshire, employs an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 workers, as reported by Derbyshire Live.

Sports Direct had provoked fury on Monday, when, within 30 minutes of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to shut down all non-essential retailers, they emailed all employees insisting that stores would remain open.

Shortly after, they also pushed up prices on sports equipment by as much as 50 percent.