GCHQ vehemently denies wire-tapping US President Donald Trump

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Britain’s cyber spy agency has fiercely denied allegations it put the communications of US President Donald Trump under surveillance.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer cited a report by a pundit on Fox News that the UK’s Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) had spied on Trump after he was elected.

In a strongly worded statement GCHQ completely denied the allegations, for which evidence was not provided.

Read more: The White House is now suggesting Britain spied on Trump

A GCHQ spokesperson said: "Recent allegations made by media commentator Judge Andrew Napolitano about GCHQ being asked to conduct 'wire tapping' against the then President Elect are nonsense.

“They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored."

Spicer repeated allegations made by Andrew Napolitano that former President Barack Obama “went outside the chain of command” to use GCHQ to spy on Trump without using American intelligence agencies.

Napolitano, who describes himself as “senior judicial analyst” to Fox News, did not offer substantiating evidence to his allegations.

Read more: Ex-intelligence director claps back at Trump's wiretap claims

Trump himself accused his predecessor Obama of “wire tapping” on Twitter earlier this month, again without offering any evidence.

Trump also asked “How low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process” on 4 March, while comparing his actions to disgraced former President Richard Nixon’s orders to spy on opponents in the Watergate scandal.

However, an intelligence committee in the US Senate dismissed the allegations, saying it had found no evidence to back them up.