HEDGE fund Sandell Asset Management, which has been agitating for changes at FirstGroup, has built a stake in under pressure supermarket Morrisons.

Swedish billionaire Thomas Sandell, who runs the fund, is reported to have revealed the holding in the grocer while in the City to gather support for its plans to shake-up the Scottish transport company by getting it to offload its US operations.

Mr Sandell indicated the stake in Morrisons is less than 3%, which is the reason why it has not yet been notified to the stock market.

Morrisons had a tough Christmas when it experienced a more than 5% dip in like-for-like sales.