The boss of City Link's parent company has told MPs he did not want to make thousands of workers redundant on Christmas Day.

The timing of the announcement was taken out of his hands when administrators went into the collapsed parcel delivery firm, Jon Moulton said.

"Absolutely nobody wanted it to happen" as workers sat down for their Christmas dinner with their families, he told members of the Scottish Affairs Committee.

Mr Moulton also claimed his company would have been prepared to suffer £5 million worth of losses had a suitable buyer been found, to avoid a public relations "disaster".

More than 2,000 workers across the UK lost their jobs in the company, which directly employed 165 in Scotland at depots in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Livingstone and North Lanarkshire.

In a series of angry exchanges with MPs Mr Moulton also hit out at criticism of his handling of the collapse, telling the committee: "You don't run the country and I don't run this company."

But committee member Brian Binley told him: " (As a fellow businessman) the actions of your business shocked me".

Mr Moulton admitted that the company he founded, Better Capital, stands to get more of its money back with the firm in administration than if City Link had been sold.

"Realistically there would be some level at which that would be true," he said.

But he added that if the business could have been sold, even under terms that would have seen Better Capital receive £5 million less "we would probably have said 'Yes' ".

"You did not need to be a genius to work out this was a public relations disaster waiting to happen."

But he added that no such buyer was forthcoming .

He told MPs: "We sincerely regret what has happened here".

Mr Moulton said that Better Capital had loaned £40 million to City Link.

He said that the company expected to recoup around £20 million.

There were not enough assets left in City Link for the full amount to be paid back, he said.

He insisted that the speed of City Link's collapsed had come as a surprise.

The company had £35 million in cash in the bank last January.

"It went downhill very rapidly over the year, with loses well in excess of £30 million," he said.

"This was not done against a backdrop of expecting failure."

"We did not want to announce (the redundancies) on Christmas Day," he added, "that was forced on us" .