A senior member of the White House staff has been removed from her post, after reports of angry clashes with the US First Lady Melania Trump.

It was announced that deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel would be moving to another job, a day after Mrs Trump's spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham, released a statement saying: "It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she (Ms Ricardel) no longer deserves the honour of serving in this White House."

The feud between Ms Ricardel and Mrs Trump came to the boil in October when the pair argued over arrangements for a visit to Africa.

Mrs Trump is also said to believe Ms Ricardel was behind a series of unflattering stories about her.

In a recent interview with ABC News she suggested there were insiders that she did not trust and that she was "the most bullied person in the world".

Meanwhile senior White House officials suspect Ms Ricardel of leaking details of the administration to the press.

In a statement, presidential spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said that after barely seven months in the job Ricardel "departs the White House to transition to a new role within the administration", without elaborating on what that role might be.

Mira Ricardel is a former State Department and Pentagon official who was handpicked by President Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, to be his deputy.

However an ex-colleague described her as someone who does not "suffer fools" and who lacked the skills to tactfully navigate the internal politics of the White House.

According to several unnamed sources she quickly gained a reputation for "bullying" subordinates and superiors, clashing with chief of staff John Kelly and defence secretary James Mattis.