M&S: Rose lays down the law

MARKS & Spencer chief executive Stuart Rose is demanding that Philip Green and his associates admit whether they are holding personal information about him.

This follows Rose's realisation that his personal phone and bank records have been interfered with.

Rose fired off legal notices to Green and his advisers Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch, asking them to disclose what, if any, data they are holding.

A spokesman for Rose said: 'In response to increasing concerns about access to his personal records, Stuart Rose has issued a number of notices under the Data Protection Act, requesting details of any personal information held by the recipients of the notices.'

Green said: 'I look forward to receiving it with interest.' He has denied hiring private investigators.

Some in the Green camp claim it was a newspaper, not a detective firm, that discovered the details about Rose.

Rose is likely to make similar requests to Green's public relations agency Finsbury and lawyers Ashurst.

Other possible targets include financial backers HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays Capital.

The action comes after mobile phones company mmO2 admitted that a third party set up a secret pass code to obtain access to Rose's phone records.

Rose also believes that someone has had access to his personal diary and his wife's bank statements.