The British Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has admitted he had a relationship with a prostitute.

Responding to reports on the internet over recent weeks, he said it lasted six months but he ended it when he found out someone was trying to sell the story to newspapers.

It happened more than two years ago, he said, when he was chairman of the culture, media and sport select committee of MPs and before he joined the Cabinet last year.

Mr Whittingdale (56) who has been an MP since 1992, married in 1990 and has two adult children but is now divorced.

He was formerly political secretary to Margaret Thatcher and is now campaigning for Britain to leave the EU.

In his statement, Mr Whittingdale said: "Between August 2013 and February 2014, I had a relationship with someone who I first met through Match.com. She was a similar age and lived close to me," he said.

"At no time did she give me any indication of her real occupation and I only discovered this when I was made aware that someone was trying to sell a story about me to tabloid newspapers. As soon as I discovered, I ended the relationship".

"This is an old story which was a bit embarrassing at the time. The events occurred long before I took up my present position and it has never had any influence on the decisions I have made as Culture Secretary".

"A perfect right to a private life"

There was no official response to Mr Whittingdale's statement from 10 Downing Street.

The story first appeared online on April 1st and it is understood that it was investigated by a number of national newspapers but until Mr Whittingdale issued his statement they decided not to run it.

It was reported that Mr Whittingdale attended the MTV awards in Amsterdam with the woman but did not declare it in the Register of MPs' interests. He says that was because it came under the threshold for declarations.

Responding to Mr Whittingdale's statement, Labour's Shadow Commons Leader Chris Bryant, who was shadow culture secretary until September last year, said: "It seems the press were quite deliberately holding a sword of Damocles over John Whittingdale".

"He has a perfect right to a private life but as soon as he knew this he should have withdrawn from all regulation of the press".

Brian Cathcart, the founder of the campaign Hacked Off, has claimed there was a conspiracy by the newspapers to cover up aspects of Mr Whittingdale's private life because he is responsible for regulating the media.

Mr Cathcart also said Mr Whittingdale was guilty of a conflict of interest and should have told British Prime Minister David Cameron about the relationship when he was appointed to the Cabinet in May last year.