Top bosses at Bradford-based supermarket Morrisons were subjected to a barrage of criticism from the Morrison family at today’s annual general meeting for their running of the business after the chain suffered losses in 2013.

Leading the attack was former company supremo, and son of the founder, Sir Ken Morrison, who stood down as chairman in 2008.

He dismissed an upbeat presentation of a six-point recovery plan by chief executive Dalton Philips as ’bull***t and likened Morrisons annual report to the fairy stories read to him as a child .

To loud applause, Sir Ken, who took up farming after retiring from Morrisons, said “I have something like 1,000 bullocks and having listened to your presentation I can say that you’ve got a lot more bull***t than I have.”

Sir Ken described the group’s 2013 performance - which saw it slump to a £176 million loss - as ‘disastrous’ and said he doubted the ability of the current board of directors, led by Sir Ian Gibson who announced he was standing down at next year’s AGM, could deliver a rapid and sustained recovery.

While Sir Ian apologised to the 200 or so shareholders attending the meeting for the company’s poor 2013 performance, Dalton Philips stressed that bosses had a clear strategy for recovery and to ensure Morrisons could succeed in an ever-changing retail marketplace.