US President-elect Donald Trump seen Wednesday at his first press conference in 169 days. Reuters LONDON — The former British intelligence officer behind the explosive allegations linking US President-elect Donald Trump to Russia has been named — and now he fears for his life.

Christopher Steele, a 52-year-old former MI6 officer, was identified on Wednesday evening as the man responsible for creating the dossier of allegations, which have not been verified after emerging Tuesday and which Trump on Wednesday branded as "fake news."

According to The Daily Telegraph, Steele has fled his home amid fears for his safety. A source close to Steele told the newspaper that he was worried about a dangerous backlash against him from Moscow.

His 35-page report described Trump as engaging in compromising activities in Russia and coordinating with Kremlin officials during his presidential campaign. Steele's findings, which have not been confirmed but which attracted the interest of US intelligence officials, were apparently based on conversations he had with Russian intelligence sources. His work was financed by anti-Trump Republicans and later Democrats during the presidential campaign.

He is "terrified for his and his family's safety," The Telegraph said. It added that a neighbour had confirmed that he fled his Surrey home. "He asked me to look after his cat as he would be gone for a few days," the neighbour said. "I'm not sure where he's gone or how to contact him."

A police car in Wokingham, Britain, on Thursday at an address that has been linked by local media to former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, who has been named as the author of an intelligence dossier on Trump. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls Steele is a director of the London-based Orbis Business Intelligence, a private security and investigations firm. He has a good reputation in the intelligence community and spent years stationed in Russia, according to The Wall Street Journal.

BuzzFeed published the full Trump dossier on Tuesday. Trump lashed out at the website Wednesday morning during his first press conference in 169 days, calling the website a "failing pile of garbage."

Sean Spicer, the incoming White House press secretary, added: "It's frankly outrageous and highly irresponsible for a left-wing blog that was highly hostile to the president-elect's campaign to drop highly salacious and flat-out false information on the internet just days before he takes the oath of office."