Retail entrepreneur Tom Hunter is preparing to raise the stakes in a High Street battle to take over Allders, and perhaps merge it with House of Fraser, reports have said.

Mr Hunter on Friday raised to more than 5% his stake in Allders, the department store chain which property firm Minerva and retail guru Terry Green are attempting to buy for �132m.

A spokeswoman for Mr Hunter on Friday said the stake had been bought to win him "a seat at the table" when the future of Allders was discussed.

But reports over the weekend said Mr Hunter was poised to buy further Allders shares.

A stake of 7.5% would allow him to block the Minerva takeover, which had looked a certainty.

This would force Mr Green, the retail brains behind the Minerva takeover, to the negotiating table - and could even see him elbowed from the deal altogether, reports said.

Mr Hunter is seeking to win Minerva's approval for his own plans for Allders, or persuade the property firm to sell him its holding, the Observer said.

"He wants to rule the roost," a City analyst told the newspaper.

Merger idea

Mr Hunter's proposals are believed to include a merger with House of Fraser, which he has also attempted to buy.

"In an ideal world he would like to merge both companies and drop the Allders name," a retail source told the Observer.

House of Fraser, whose stores include Barkers of Kensington and Rackhams in Birmingham, has underperformed in recent seasons.

But the store group is expected on Thursday to reveal promising figures, the Sunday Telegraph said.

Retail analysts believe that merging House of Fraser and Allders chains, which together boast nearly 100 stores, could present considerable opportunity for consolidation.

Mr Green, a former Debenhams chief executive, is not related to the flamboyant retail entrepreneur Philip Green.