Downing Street repeatedly refused to confirm today that Donald Trump's State Visit will go ahead this Autumn - amid claims he has cancelled to avoid protests,

No10 insisted the invitation to the US president still stood, but refused to give any timings.

US officials have denied that Mr Trump told Theresa May during a phone call that he no longer wanted to come to Britain.

However, the White House has been stressing that few discussions over the trip have taken place.

They also pointed to the commander-in-chief's busy schedule, saying he is already expected to travel to Poland and Germany next month, as well as attending summits in the Philippines and Vietnam.

Concerns about large-scale protests around the visit to the UK have been fuelled by the backlash over Mr Trump's criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan in the wake of the London Bridge attacks.

Earlier this year more than 300,000 people signed a petition urging Parliament to ban Trump from entering the UK.

Donald Trump has refused to make a state visit to the UK while there are likely to be large-scale protests against him, a source close to the British prime minister has revealed

The source, who was in the room when PM Theresa May (pictured) took the call said she was 'shocked' by the remarks. May was the first foreign leader to invite Trump to visit

Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said Trump's decision to pull out of visiting the UK was 'welcome' after Trump mocked the London mayor on Twitter after the recent terrorist attack

A source told The Guardian that the President called Mrs May at some point in recent weeks and informed her of the decision,

The source said they were present in Downing Street when the call came through.

The PM's official spokesman refused to comment today on whether President Trump's state visit - which had been expected in September - would feature in the Queens Speech.

He said: 'We issued a statement yesterday in relation to the story in the Guardian.

'We don't comment on speculation or about private conversations.

'The Queen has issued the invitation to the President.'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn welcomed the news that Mr Trump might not visit.

'Cancellation of President Trump's State Visit is welcome, especially after his attack on London's mayor and withdrawal from #ParisClimateDeal,' he wrote.

Corbyn was referencing Trump's Twitter attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan shortly after the London Bridge terror attacks, which claimed eight innocent lives.

Trump mocked Khan for telling people 'not to be alarmed' in the wake of the attacks - but the London Mayor hit back and said the remarks were taken out of context.

Mr Khan said he was talking about the increased police presence on London streets, not the attacks themselves.

But Trump continued his attack, saying Khan had to 'think fast' to come up with his 'pathetic excuse' of a response.

The response from the British public was strong, with UK politicians and even Harry Potter author JK Rowling criticising the President on social media.

Downing Street said that it would not comment on the insider's remarks, but said the Queen's invitation to Donald Trump remains open

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas joined jibes at Mr Trump in the wake of the apparent postponement.

Comparing the situation to Mrs May's decision to shun TV debates during the election campaign, she tweeted: 'Looks like there's another leader who's too scared to show up.'

May was the first foreign leader to visit Trump in the White House when she made an appearance in Washington DC just seven days after his inauguration.

She extended a formal invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to Trump during that visit, and told the press she was 'delighted that the President has accepted that invitation'.

Some of May's advisors had told her that the offer was premature and should have been 'put back a bit' in the wake of his controversial Muslim travel ban, but could not be rescinded once made.

Trump's relationship with the British public has been highly strained for years - particularly in Scotland, where his golf developments have upset locals.

Last week Theresa May told Trump she was 'disappointed' at his decision to take the US out of the Paris climate change agreement, although she did not join other European leaders in signing a joint statement condemning the action.

His presidency and potential state visit sparked mass protests in London in February when he was accused of racism over his travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, introduced in late January.

In the same month a petition calling for the President to be 'barred from the UK' signed by more than 312,000 was delivered to Parliament, triggering a debate on whether Trump should be allowed to enter the country.

The petition read in part: 'Donald Trump’s well-documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by the Queen or the Prince of Wales.

'Therefore during the term of his presidency Donald Trump should not be invited to the United Kingdom for an official state visit.'

In February anti-Trump protesters surrounded the British Parliament while politicians - spurred by a 312,000-strong petition - discussed whether he should be banned from visiting the UK

Trump (seen last June at his Trump Turnburry Resort in Scotland) is an Anglophile who boasts of his half-Scottish lineage; the British public's reaction to him is likely a thorn in his side

Anti-Trump protesters gathered outside the parliament building calling for him to be banned, while inside politicians likened him to a 'petulant child' - though both May and her supporters were adamant that a visit should go ahead.

The animosity felt towards Trump by the British people is likely to be a thorn in the president's side.

An Anglophile who has long boasted of his British heritage - his mother, Mary-Anne Trump, was born in Tong, Scotland - Trump longs for acceptance from the country.

At the start of the year he sent the UK government a list of demands for his then-expected visit.

They included having the Queen join him for a game of golf on the nine-hole course at her castle in Balmoral, Scotland, The Telegraph reported.

His PR team had hoped to replicate a photograph similar to the 1982 image of Ronald Reagan and the Queen riding horses together.

President George W Bush faced between 100,000 and 200,000 protesters for his state visit to London in 2003 - but he went ahead and flew to the UK anyway

He also wanted dinner at Blenheim Palace - Winston Churchill's birthplace - in Oxfordshire, England, and tea at Buckingham Palace in London, according to The Express.

Trump is not the only US president to face opposition from the British public; in 2003, George W Bush faced thousands of protesters angry at the then-recent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Between 100,000 and 200,000 people descended on London to protest while he was in the capital, culminating in the toppling of a statue of Bush in Trafalgar Square.

His visit went ahead anyway.