Jessica Ennis’s coach has slammed a senior figure at UK Athletics for describing the British heptathlete as overweight.

Toni Minichiello said that an unnamed “high-ranking person” within the governing body said the 26-year-old had put on too much weight in the build-up to the 2012 Games.

Minichiello claimed the slurs were part of increased intrusion into Ennis’s preparation for the Olympics from “people who should know better”.

“I get e-mails and phone calls giving me advice on what I should be doing with Jessica. It’s a lot of background noise that you can get easily distracted by,” Mini-chiello said.

“I’ve never had any issue with her weight or shape. There are times I’ve wished she was taller, but that’s it.

“The things you can’t deal with are what we’ve dubbed as ‘silver bullets’. And other people... you can’t deal with the pressures that are on other people, like the BOA’s team management.”