Lord Sugar is to sit on a new small business finance taskforce, the governent has announced.

The star of The Apprentice will be part of a new government advisory board that will look into how to ensure small businesses are treated fairly when accessing bank finance.

The board's main task - which will also feature outgoing FSB chairman John Wright and former Lloyd's TSB deputy chief executive Mike Fairey - will be to advise the government on the responsibilities of the new Small Business Credit Adjudicator.

"Lord Sugar, Mike Fairey and John Wright have decades of experience in banking, business and enterprise. They understand the critical importance of new finance and credit flow to the growth of small, innovative companies," said Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.