Tory advisers are secretly plotting a “take-out Tim” strategy to unseat the Liberal Democrat leader at next month’s general election, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

In what would be one of the most dramatic results of election night, Conservative strategists believe they can win back Tim Farron’s Westmorland and Lonsdale constituency.

The Cumbrian seat was held by the Tories for more than 20 years before Mr Farron won it in 2005 by a few hundred votes.

Strategists working in the area are planning to use Brexit, which was backed by an estimated 45 per cent of people in the seat, to pick off voters.

They will also attempt to exploit Mr Farron’s absence from the seat as he leads the Lib Dem national election campaign across the country.

Last night a Lib Dem source hit back by dismissing the Tory hopes as “utter nonsense” and calling Mr Farron a “popular and diligent constituency MP”.