FORMER Morrisons boss and major shareholder Sit Ken Morrison has reportedly built up a £6.6m stake in major rival Sainsbury's.

Sir Ken, life president of Morrisons - whose father founded the Bradford-based business, as an egg and butter stall in 1899- now shares an £11.9 million stake in Sainsbury's which his son William - with Sir Ken having 2.6 million shares and William 2.1 million.

The retired Morrisons supremo, now a gentleman farmer in North Yorkshire, has also voiced his support for Sainsbury chief executive Mike Coupe, describing the supermarket as a well run company.

Earlier this year Sir Ken urged Morrisons shareholders to have patience with the new management's turnaround plan under the leadership of chairman Andrew Higginson and chief executive David Potts.

This was in stark contrast to his remarks at a previous AGM when he described the strategy under sacked boss Dalton Philips as "bulls****".

Morrisons' share price has halved since September 2013 and is now trading at around 150p. The company recently fell out of the FTSE 100 list of leading shares.

Sainsbury's shares are trading just above 250p.