Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley has blocked a Labour councillor from joining the retailer’s board meetings after a spat with Jeremy Corbyn.

The billionaire wrote to John Gray, who is also the vice-chair of the Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), to say that he could no longer attend Sports Direct’s board meeting in December.

It comes after the Labour leader accused Mr Ashley of taking advantage of the UK’s “corrupt system” in a blistering attack on capitalism on Thursday.

Corbyn had labelled Mr Ashley a "bad boss", accused him of not paying staff properly and said he had an exploited workforce.

Sports Direct hit back in the letter to Mr Gray on Friday, saying Mr Corbyn has a "complete lack of understanding" and arguing that many successful retailers had worked their way up from nothing.

The letter, from the retailer’s legal boss Tom Piper, said: “It was disappointing to read in the press yesterday the personal and unfounded attacks against Mr Ashley made by Jeremy Corbyn.”

“In line with Mr Corbyn’s complete lack of understanding of the state of UK retail, he should be reminded that the sector is a huge employer for the nation, and that it is one of the few sectors where there is no glass ceiling.