David Cameron has accidentally followed a high-class escort agency on Twitter.

The Prime Minister’s official account, @Number10gov, had been following the account of Carltons of London, an organization describing itself as an “Elite London Escort Agency”.

Number 10 told the BBC that the account had been followed due to an automated system running on @Number10gov since 2009. They noted that following an account was not equivalent to endorsing it.

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Carltons, which advertises itself as catering to Chelsea, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Mayfair areas of London, claims to offer the "finest London escorts to gentlemen of distinction".

It’s been suggested that the Prime Minister’s Twitter account was perhaps attempting to follow the Carlton Club, a London gentlemen’s club (of the other kind) established for the use of members of the Conservative party in 1832.

Cameron accepted an honorary membership to the club in 2008 and Boris Johnson is also a member.

Technology site The Register, who broke the story, contacted Carltons of London for comment but were told by the escort’s receptionist that “I don't know anything about the Prime Minister or Twitter."

Cameron joined Twitter reluctantly after commenting that “too many tweets might make a twat”, although this hasn’t the @Number10gov account committing a number of minor gaffes.

In September the PM’s account favourite a tweet from a spoof account saying "David-Cameron please call off WilliamHague, hasn't Kenya suffered enough today?", and last month he appeared to suggest that Facebook had been responsible for posting beheading videos on the site.

A fellow Twitter user responded: “Do you understand how the internet works at all?”