Silicon Valley’s biggest names have hired an army of lobbyists in the UK as they brace for a wave of stringent new regulation across Europe.

The Daily Telegraph has analysed employee data from Facebook, Google and Amazon and discovered that ­together, they have about 50 people whose job it is to influence policy.

About half of those were at Facebook, which last week appointed Nick Clegg as head of global affairs, one of the most senior lobbying roles at the company.

A further five UK-based lobby roles are being advertised on the company’s website. Together, the three tech giants have doubled their UK headcount of policy specialists in the last two years.

Earlier this year it was revealed that the companies had spent a record amount on lobbying Washington.

In the US, companies have to provide details of their lobbying activities. However, there is very little oversight in the UK, and only consultant lobbyists are required to join a register and disclose who their clients are.

The companies declined to provide details of how many people they had working on policy in the UK but a number of heavy-hitters have joined their ranks amid growing pressure from European regulators.