Phillip Green has asked the Takeover Panel to rule whether rival bidders could make conditional offers if he makes a formal bid for Safeway.

Green, the billionaire retailer, is unwilling to waste the estimated £20 million cost of working up a formal bid for the group, if it could be hampered by offers from the main supermarket chain.

It is believed that if the Takeover Panel permits the four supermarkets to bid in response to a formal approach by Green he will delay making a move until later in the year. By this time the Competition Commission will have ruled which supermarket(s) can bid.

It has also emerged that Safeway has asked Green to clarify his intentions with regards to bidding. The supermarket has refused to provide Green with any further information unless he meets with their management to discuss his intended action.