Philip Green's proposal for BHS pensions is shy of £100m

The Pensions regulator wants £350m from former BHS boss Philip Green to plug the pensions deficit gap left in the wake of its collapse. The tycoon has however only offered £250m, according to the BBC.

The announcement comes after months of Green refusing to publicly declare the level of financial support he would be willing to contribute to the pension schemes.

The regulator has launched enforcement action against Green as well as former race car driver Dominic Chappell, the latter of which took over the business just before its bankruptcy.

BHS’s 20,000 pension scheme members are waiting on the outcome of the case.

Chief executive of the Pensions Regulator Lesley Titcomb said: "Our decision to launch enforcement action is an important milestone in our work to attain redress for the thousands of members of BHS schemes who have been placed in this position through no fault of their own."

Following an investigation into the matter in March 2015, the regualtor has sent a 300-page notice ordering the billionaire to pay towards the pension shortfall which amounted to £571m when the company defaulted.

"I have read the statement from the Pensions Regulator this evening and noted its contents," Sir Philip said.

Green said he had presented “a credible and substantial proposal” above and beyond that of the scheme offered by the lifeboat Pension protection Fund.

"I have also spoken to the chairman of the [BHS pension] trustees who is supportive of the proposal on the basis that it provides members with better benefits than they would receive from the PPF," said Green.

Last month, members of parliament voted for a motion to strip Green of his knighthood due to his role in the fall of BHS after he sold it to Chappell for one pound.

Frank Field, who co-chaired a parliamentary inquiry into the collapse of BHS, said: "We are not surprised that the Pensions Regulator has, like all the rest of us, lost patience with Sir Philip Green's excuses and empty promises."

The other chaiman of the inquiry, Ian Wright, said that five months after Green told MPs he would “sort out the pensions mess” he has put “no credible plan or cash on the table”.

"We have seen stalling for time, lack of real progress in the negotiations and that's why the regulator has to do what it has done - understandable, regrettable, but I can perfectly understand what's been going on," he told the BBC.

He added that while the former BHS employees have been worrying over their pensions Green took “ownership of his third yacht and spends his summer in the Med. That level of inequality really rankles with people".