A third woman has publicly accused Brett Kavanaugh, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, of sexual misconduct, claiming he was present at parties as a teenager where girls were “gang raped”.

Julie Swetnick, a former US government employee, alleged that Mr Kavanaugh and his friends attempted to “spike” drinks so women would be too inebriated to say “no” in the early 1980s.

She also claimed to have seen Mr Kavanaugh in a line of boys outside a room at one of these parties “waiting for their ‘turn’ with a girl inside the room”.

Mr Kavanaugh denied the allegations, saying: “This is ridiculous and from the Twilight Zone. I don’t know who this is and this never happened.”

The new claims plunged his confirmation into further uncertainty, triggering leading Democrats to demand the US president withdraw Mr Kavanaugh as his nominee for the open Supreme Court seat.