More than 400 people have come forward because of allegations of sexual abuse by Mohamed Al Fayed

Al Fayed, who died last year aged 94, was accused of sexual assault by more than 20 women in a BBC documentary and podcast in September.

Since then, more and more women have come forward with allegations of sexual assault, harassment and rape over a period of more than 30 years while employed by him.

Harrods previously told the BBC it was in the process of settling more than 250 compensation claims filed by victims of Al Fayed. The luxury department store has a compensation scheme for former employees who say they were attacked by Al Fayed, which is separate from the lawsuit against it.

On Thursday, the Justice for Harrods Survivors group, which represents some of the accusers of the former Harrods boss, said the first letter of claim had been sent to the department store, calling it the “beginning of the formal legal process”.

The group said most of the 421 claims were linked to Harrods, but others related to incidents at Fulham FC and the Ritz Paris hotel, which Al Fayed also owned at the time of the alleged attacks.

The survivors involved come from Britain, America, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia, the lawyers said.