Sir Ken Morrison has urged shareholders of the supermarket his family founded to be patient and allow the firm's new management team "breathing space" to restore the company's fortunes.

Sir Ken, who stood down as chairman and chief executive in 2008, did not repeat his stinging criticism of the faltering performance of the company he made at last year's annual meeting.

He was the first to ask questions of the board at this year's meeting in Bradford today, following addresses to shareholders from new chief executive David Potts and chairman Andrew Higginson, who joined a year ago.

He said he was reassured by the new team's "stated intention to restore the company to its glory days".

Sir Ken, 83, said: "It is a big job to restore the company's fortunes. Please be patient and allow the new management some breathing space."

The life president's comments follow his interjection at last year's annuale general meeting when he gave former chief executive Dalton Philips a dressing down.

Sir Ken described Mr Philips's strategy as "bullsh*t", as the then-boss faced intense pressure amid sliding sales and a fierce supermarket price war.

Mr Philips left the firm in January and his pay-off package was questioned by a number of shareholders at today's meeting at the company's HQ.

Mr Higginson said today that Mr Philips was paid up according to his contract and defended the company's executive bonuses more generally.

The annual meeting comes after Morrisons was saved at the last minute from being kicked out of London's blue chip index after its first rise in sales for nearly 18 months sent shares surging.

FTSE Russell confirmed yesterday that the firm will remain in the FTSE 100 Index, narrowly avoiding an embarrassing relegation to the FTSE 250, which would have ended more than 14 years in the top flight.