Kent minister Damian Green is under investigation amid claims he acted inappropriately towards a journalist, Sky has reported.

Theresa May has launched the top level probe after allegations the first Secretary of State behaved inappropriately towards freelance columnist Kate Maltby.

The Ashford MP denies the claims, which come a day after Sir Michael Fallon was alleged to have inappropriately touched a journalist’s knee 15 years ago.

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The Prime Minister has ordered the Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Hayward to investigate the allegations against Mr Green.

The MP told Kent Online: "The investigation has now started and I hope it is concluded as soon as possible."

He is alleged to have found the claims “deeply hurtful”, after the reporter said she “felt a fleeting hand on her knee”.

Mr Green said the allegations were untrue and he had never made any advances on the journalist.

“It is absolutely and completely untrue that I have ever made any sexual advances on Ms Maltby.”

But Conservative MP Anna Soubry said the allegations against the first secretary of state were “very serious” and he should stand aside from his role as first secretary,

“I would say there is an investigation, by some mechanism you stand out, you remove yourself from this position, until the conclusion of that investigation,” Soubry told Sky News.

She added that “in normal circumstances” someone facing allegations such as those made about Green would have been suspended from their job.

Mr Green had known Ms Maltby since 2014 when she had contacted him as a member of a Tory thinktank.

He had met her twice yearly for a drink as friends and nothing more, he added.

“This untrue allegation has come as a complete shock and is deeply hurtful especially from someone I considered a personal friend.”

The alleged incident is said to have happened in 2015.

Paul Clokie, the vice chairman of the Ashford Conservative Association, rallied behind the MP.

"If Damian says it is nonsense, then I completely accept it and have every confidence in him."

He added that while it was "totally inexcusable" for someone to force themselves on a woman, the swirl of allegations against MPs was "over the top".