OXFORD United owner Darryl Eales could be called to give evidence to the House of Commons over his association with the troubled adult education provider Learndirect, it has been reported.

United chairman Mr Eales became associated with the apprenticeship organisation when he was chief executive of Lloyds Development Capital, which bought Learndirect from the Government in 2011 for £36m.

A recent Financial Times investigation claimed the largely taxpayer-funded company spent some 84 per cent of its profts on payments to managers and financiers.

To add to its troubles, a damning report on Learndirect by education watchdog Ofsted was finally published last week after the company's legal efforts to stop it were quashed.

The Financial Times investigation concluded that Ofsted’s findings could lead to the loss of government contracts and eventual insolvency, which would likely prompt an investigation by the public accounts committee in the House of Lords, which Mr Eales could be called to appear before.

A spokesman for Darryl Eales said: "Darryl hasn't been on the board of  Learndirect since November 2012.

"He stood down as CEO of LDC in May 2014 to pursue other interests after 12 successful years as CEO where he helped grow the business five-fold. The business made well over £1bn profit supporting medium-sized UK businesses."

Last week's Ofsted report gave Learndirect the lowest-possible grade and said directors and senior managers had 'presided over a sustained decline in performance across all programmes'.

Ofsted’s findings apply only to Learndirect Limited and not a new entity set up last year, Learndirect Apprenticeships Limited, which will continue offering apprenticeships under the government’s new funding system that launched in May.

Learndirect’s chief executive Andy Palmer and chairman Ken Hills are the only directors of Learndirect Apprenticeships, which is owned by the same holding company as Learndirect Limited.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said Learndirect Apprenticeships had passed the government’s quality assurance tests for the new register of apprenticeship training providers.