Neither does the house appear on his official website, on which he claims to divide his time between London and his constituency home in Newark, another element of his extensive property portfolio.

Sources close to the Cabinet minister would not reveal whether his Westminster house had been designated as his primary residence for tax purposes.

On March 20, it is understood that Mr Jenrick's Israeli-born wife, their three young daughters and their dog made the 150-mile journey from their Westminster house to Herefordshire. The children's London schools had closed the week before.

Two days later, a Mother's Day picture posted on Mr Jenrick's official account showed the girls cradling the family dog in the mansion's manicured gardens. "Sorry I couldn't be there," he wrote to his family.

On the same day, the Government made clear its position on people escaping the lockdown by travelling to second homes. "Essential travel does not include visits to second homes, whether for isolation purposes or holidays," new guidance said. "People must remain in their primary residence."

Mr Jenrick stayed in Whitehall and was pictured taking part in a Cobra cabinet meeting by video link. On March 29 – six days into the lockdown – the 38-year-old led the Downing Street press conference and then drove 150 miles to Leominster to be with his family.

According to a neighbour, however, his claims that the journey was within the rules are simply untrue.

"The family hardly use the place," the neighbour told The Telegraph. "No way is it their main home. They're never really there. I know he's been doing up the place for years, and I think it's his plan to retire there eventually.

"But to say it's the family home is just codswallop, I’m afraid."

Mr Jenrick has also faced questions over a trip to deliver medicine to his elderly parents, but a Downing Street spokesman said it had not contravened Government guidelines.

Asked about the Communities Secretary's apparent breach of the second homes ban, the spokesman said: "Like everybody else, ministers have been told to work from home wherever possible and not make unnecessary journeys.

"As part of the coronavirus response there will be occasions when ministers have no option but to work from Whitehall. In the event this is required, and the rest of their household is living elsewhere, it's not an unnecessary journey for them to travel to rejoin their family."

But Ian Blackford, the SNP's Westminster leader, said: "If anyone has broken the guidance which everyone must be adhering to, then a price has to be paid. It is not acceptable for anybody – and it is certainly not acceptable for a minister to be disregarding the guidance and failing to lead by example."

Steve Reed, Labour's new communities spokesman, said: "MPs need to set an example to everyone about the importance of not moving around the country – and if Robert Jenrick can't provide a very good explanation as to why these trips were necessary, then he needs to consider his position."

The former Tory minister Anna Soubry wrote on Twitter: "The selfish arrogance of two trips Robert Jenrick telling cramped families in inner city high rises or squeezed suburban homes to #StayAtHome is bad enough but justifying it by asserting he didn't break the rules is shameful. Snr Ministers must practise what they preach."