Tory ministers have come under fire for spending government cash on Facebook ads targeted at voters in election swing seats.

HuffPost UK has learned that ministers authorised more than 20 adverts, paid for with taxpayers’ cash, to go live on Tuesday, the same day Boris Johnson got MPs to back a snap general election.

Published on a page for a government campaign called ‘My Town’, the ads trumpet £25m of investment for each individual area.

The adverts, designed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), refer to the £3.6bn Towns Fund announced by the prime minister in September.

But they also say: “We want local people to determine how this money is spent.”

Labour MP Ian Lucas called the promotion an “outrageous” misuse of public cash.

He has written to Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove demanding to know how data was gathered for the campaign and accusing ministers of misusing taxpayers’ cash.

The messages all appear to be specifically targeted at people living in mostly-Brexit-voting towns where the sitting MP has a majority below 5,000 votes, such as Milton Keynes, Morley, Northampton and Workington.

“These adverts are being deployed to Tory target seats on the cusp of a general election,” Lucas said.

“It would be an insult to our intelligence to say that this isn’t public money being used for political purposes. It clearly is.

“And it is an example of how the government is merging political activity with the arms of government in its own political interest.”