Tesco’s then UK managing director did not alert the British retailer’s chief executive to possible problems with its 2014-2015 half-year accounts, despite having opportunities to do so, a London court has heard.

Tesco shares have fallen as the retailer faces a new claim for damages from an investor, in relation to its 2014 profit overstatement.

Britain’s Serious Fraud Office has said it has charged three former senior Tesco executives with fraud in its investigation into accounting practices at the UK’s biggest supermarket retailer.