Ex-BHS owner Dominic Chappell has denied failing to hand over information to The Pensions Regulator during an investigation into the retailer’s collapse.

The regulator alleges that Chappell – the former racing driver to whom Sir Philip Green sold the department store chain for a nominal £1 – failed to provide information and documents on three occasions.

Before pleading not guilty, he requested that the case be adjourned because his solicitor was unable to attend, the BBC reported.

Chappell argued that he had not received a summons because he had been out of contact on a boat during August.

The district judge at Brighton Magistrate’s Court rejected that argument and gave Chappell some time to read the court documents before he entered his plea.

The trial has been scheduled to commence on January 8, 2018.

During his single year of BHS ownership, Chappell received £2.5m in payments from the retailer.