Tony Blair's work as a Middle East envoy was secretly funded by a wealthy Arab state which also employed him as a paid adviser, leaked emails seen by the Telegraph reveal.

The United Arab Emirates quietly financed Mr Blair's London office while he also received millions in consultancy fees from the state and the sovereign wealth fund of its capital, Abu Dhabi.

A senior Foreign Office official acting as Mr Blair's chief of staff in his role as Quartet envoy was also used for assignments connected to his private consultancy empire.

The disclosures will raise serious questions over potential conflicts of interest between Mr Blair's public and private work.

He has always insisted that his public and private work was kept entirely separate, and has denied that Quartet staff were involved in "commercial work".

However, following questions by this newspaper Mr Blair has now been forced to admit that he received money from the UAE into the same company to bankroll both his role as the unpaid official envoy to the Middle East - and private consultancy work funded by the Gulf state.

The UAE's contributions to Mr Blair's Quartet work were never disclosed on the website of the Office of the Quartet Representative despite a "funding" page declaring other sources of income, including from the US, Canadian and UK governments.