More than half a million people in just a few hours signed a petition calling for Donald Trump to be denied a state visit to the UK.

By Sunday evening, more than 500,000 had added their names to the petition set up on Saturday.

Very few people had signed it on Saturday, when it was set up, but it exploded on Sunday.

Mr Trump is due to be hosted by the Queen in London later this year after accepting an invite for a state visit from Theresa May, when she visited on Friday.

But there are mounting calls for the trip to be cancelled after the US president imposed a travel ban on refugees and citizens from seven mainly-Muslim countries.

The petition says that while the new American president should be allowed to come to the UK, he should not be invited to meet the Queen.

President Trump's inauguration speech

Petitions signed by more than 100,000 people are considered for debate by Parliament. The Government has to respond to all petitions that get more than 10,000 signatures.

It states: "Donald Trump should be allowed to enter the UK in his capacity as head of the US Government, but he should not be invited to make an official State Visit because it would cause embarrassment to Her Majesty the Queen.

"Donald Trump's well documented misogyny and vulgarity disqualifies him from being received by Her Majesty 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."

It is not the first time a petition against Trump has gained massive support in the UK.

In January last year Welsh MP Paul Flynn led a debate on whether to ban Trump from entering the UK after controversial comments about Muslims.

Around 568,000 people backed a petition calling on the tycoon to be barred for comments he made about banning Muslims from the US.

It was after the Republican faced an international backlash after urging a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.

(Image: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

This weekend, the president his promise came true when he signed an executive order which implemented a 90-day ban on travel to the US by citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries – Libya, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn questioned why Mrs May was so quick to invite the president given his highly controversial policies, including plans to build a wall blocking the US border with Mexico.

He said: "It's slightly odd he should be invited so quickly, particularly in view of the statements he has made, and I suspect this visit is something which might find its way into the long grass."

Graham Guest, who started the petition, said just 60 people had signed it by Saturday, but the ban had sent support rocketing.

He told the Press Association he fears Mr Trump will use the state visit and the accompanying photo opportunities with the Queen to bolster his image.

He said: "A state visit legitimises his presidency and he will use the photo opportunities and being seen with the Queen to get re-elected.

"The wording in the petition is quite precise as I actually say that he should come here as the head of government to do government to government business.

"At the end of the day he is still the president and we've just got to live with that. But there's no reason why he should get all the pomp and publicity of a state visit."