Nigel Lawson, the leading Eurosceptic, has denied accusations of Brexit hypocrisy after it emerged he was in the process of applying for a French residency card.

The Tory former chancellor who chaired the Vote Leave campaign during the EU referendum said he had started the “tiresome” paperwork required to obtain a carte de sejour.

Remain campaigners said Lord Lawson’s French residency application made him look “like a hypocrite”.

But the peer rejected the claim and said the row was a storm in a teacup, telling the Telegraph it was “well known” he lived in France.

He said he had applied for residency following a request to do so from the French authorities.

He said: “It is well known that I live in France and have done for many years. I have mentioned this frequently in Brexit debates in the House of Lords and elsewhere.