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Topshop boss Sir Philip Green grabbed women's breasts, slapped their bottoms and grabbed their thighs, a peer has claimed.

Hundreds of grievance cases against the retail tycoon were raised by staff, the House of Lords was told on Thursday.

The allegations were revealed by Lord Hain at Westminster, who last year used the cloak of parliamentary privilege to identify the Topshop boss as the person behind a legal injunction preventing the Daily Telegraph from publishing allegations of sexual harassment and racial abuse.

Sir Philip has "categorically and wholly" denied the claims.

Lord Hain said he was revealing the account of a victim for the first time as he defended the use of parliamentary privilege.

Speaking during a debate in the Lords, Lord Hain said he had originally named the businessman "for moral reasons and was not second-guessing or criticising the judiciary".

He said: "To explain why, I am revealing for the first time in public exactly what one of Sir Philip Green's victims told me whilst pleading with me to name him under parliamentary privilege.

"I quote: 'He was touching and repeatedly slapping women staff's bottoms, grabbing thighs and touching legs.

"'Hundreds of grievance cases were raised with HR. The company lawyer who interviewed me then lied. Sir Philip screamed and shouted at staff 'to go to psychologists'.

"'Victims went to an employment tribunal but were told it would not get anywhere so settled with an NDA (non-disclosure agreement).

"'Some were worn down with spiralling legal costs costing them a fortune. He broke some in the end. It was horrible ... He is still doing exactly the same thing. It is rife, it happened all the time. I saw him grab the breasts of others. This has gone on for long time'."

Reporting by PA