Michelle Mone faces backlash after 'boasting' about using Government Jaguar at taxpayers' expense

Lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone has come under fire for using a government chauffeur-driven Jaguar.

The businesswoman, 43, who was given a Tory peerage last month, posted a picture of the sports car’s interior, writing: “The things you do…in Government car drying my travel top…love it so much”.

The car was used for a journey from her London home to Euston station.

The tweet received a barrage of negative comments, with critics questioning why the founder of underwear company Ultimo, who is believed to have made £20million from her firm, needs subsidised car travel.

Miss Mone, who has since deleted the Twitter post, was appointed as the Government’s tsar for small businesses last month.

She is travelling around the country in order to compile a report about the challenges of setting up small businesses in deprived areas for Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith.

A government spokesman said loaning Miss Mone the Jaguar was less expensive than if she had taken cabs and charged the cost back to the taxpayer.

“The car was not required by a minister this morning and was offered to Michelle Mone for use in connection with legitimate government business,”she told the Daily Mail.