By Quentin Sommerville Business Today, BBC News 24

The sale has been delayed by regulators

Morrisons, the supermarket group involved in a five-way battle for rival Safeway, has said it would be "almost criminal" if entrepreneur Philip Green successfully bid for the group, only to break it up.

Speaking exclusively to the BBC, Morrisons' joint managing director, Bob Stott, said such a move would be against the public interest.

"(It) would be almost criminal in our books if, by any chance, Philip Green was allowed to buy the business and then break it up," he said.

"Then we would feel that the regulatory authorities had failed the consumer in this country."

Mr Stott said it was in the interest of both customers and suppliers, that there were at least four different supermarket offerings in Britain.

If Safeway was broken up and sold on, it would leave only Sainsbury, Tesco and Asda operating on a national basis.

Clear opportunity

Philip Green declined to comment.

Mr Green, who already owns high street store BHS, is the only bidder for Safeway who has not been referred to the competition authorities.

That clears the way for him to make an offer for the supermarket, although he has refused so far to reveal his plans for Safeway.

Morrisons, Sainsbury, Wal-Mart-owned Asda and Tesco have all had their bids referred to the Competition Commission.

It is expected to hand its report to Trade & Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt on 12 August.

In January, Morrisons was the first to launch a bid for Safeway, valuing its rival at �2.9bn.

The Bradford-based chain, which has most of its stores in the north of England and the Midlands, had hoped to avoid competition scrutiny, as it has a much smaller market share of Britain's supermarket business than its rivals.

The full interview with Bob Stott will be show on Business Today at 22:30 on Wednesday on BBC News 24.