A row has broken out between Downing Street and four national newspaper editors over their decision to publish candid pictures of David Cameron on a beach.

No 10 contacted editors to try to persuade them not to carry the photographs, which showed a sunburnt, bare-chested prime minister struggling to put on his bathing trunks under a towel.

Craig Oliver, the prime minister's director of communications, urged editors to respect what he called "a binding agreement" to leave Cameron in peace during his Cornish holiday. Most agreed not to publish, but four papers – the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Times and the Daily Mirror – ignored the plea.

Oliver argued that editors had broken an agreement in which Cameron posed for the press at the beginning of his holiday in return for leaving him alone afterwards.

The editors did not agree that such a deal existed. All gave the pictures big exposure , with headlines and copy that gently ridiculed the prime minister for his reddened skin, choice of a towel with a Mickey Mouse logo and awkwardness in putting on his swimming costume.

No 10 has written to all four editors to complain about the decision to publish. A Downing Street spokesman, who insisted there was an agreement in place, said the prime minister believed he was being allowed private time with his family. He did become aware of the presence of two female photographers but was unworried because he did not think the pictures they were taking would be published.

The spokesman claimed that the security services were concerned about the problems of protecting Cameron if he were being followed by paparazzi. "We concede that it is a difficult balancing act to gain the prime minister a measure of privacy while accommodating the public interest," he said. "That's why we struck a deal with the press."

The editors view the matter very differently. They believe there was no more than a request from Downing Street rather than an agreement. They also argue that the original staged photo opportunity was too short and that the resulting pictures were inadequate.

They said Cameron was on Polzeath Beach, one of Cornwall's most popular beaches, and that none of the pictures showed his children. A couple of shots did feature his wife, Samantha.

One editor said: "The pictures were funny. Of course we wanted to use them."

The Times referred to "strategic use of a Mickey Mouse beach towel to preserve the modesty, if not necessarily the dignity, of the greatest office of state".

The Telegraph thought Cameron, with slicked-back hair and sunglasses, bore a resemblance to the actor Steven Seagal, and the Mirror's article , under the headline "Economy isn't growing, but the PM certainly is", described him as "the rather portly prime minister" who was, owing to his sunburn, "looking more Red than Blue".All the papers alluded to the fact that it was the prime minister's fourth holiday destination this year.