Philip Hammond has found himself at the heart of a sexism row after telling fellow members of the cabinet that driving trains was so easy "even a woman can do it."

The Chancellor's remarks did not go down well with Theresa May who was less than impressed.

With Mr Hammond digging himself ever deeper into a hole, the Prime Minister drily remarked she was "going to take his shovel away", the Sun Reported.

Normally there would be eight women ministers present, including Mrs May and Liz Truss, the Treasury Chief Secretary who, while not a full member, is entitled to attend cabinet meetings.

Southern Rail dogged by industrial action credit: Dominick Lipinski/PA

Mr Hammond's remarks are understood to have been made during a meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday, while discussing the long-running train drivers' dispute on Southern.

He questioned why it was so rare to see women train drivers when handling a modern locomotive was so simple that “even they can do it”.

According to the most recent statistics, 5.5 per cent of Britain's 19,000 train drivers are female.

Britain's transport network has sought female train drivers for many years.

As far back as 2001, 1,400 women readers of Cosmopolitan, the feminist glossy magazine, responded to an advert from London Transport seeking train drivers.