Cherie Blair forced to admit that she intervened in fraudster's case

Cherie Blair faced fresh embarrassment last night when it was revealed that she had intervened personally in the deportation proceedings facing the convicted fraudster Peter Foster.

Downing Street has strongly denied that she assisted Mr Foster, who helped her to buy two flats in Bristol, in his battle against being returned to Australia. But solicitors acting for Mr Foster revealed yesterday that Mrs Blair telephoned them last month to reassure Carole Caplin, his girlfriend and a confidante of the Prime Minister's wife, that the case was being conducted on a "regular and normal basis".

After consulting Mrs Blair, Downing Street issued a statement repeating that she had not "interfered" in the case. But the statement by Mr Foster's firm of solicitors, Janes, of central London, raises new questions over the extent of the links between Mrs Blair, a leading human rights lawyer, and Mr Foster and Ms Caplin.

While the Home Office takes the final decision on deportation cases, Mrs Blair's intervention could leave her open to accusations that she was using her position, both as a QC and the Prime Minister's wife, to help a friend. It will also raise questions over her claim not to have been aware of Mr Foster's past. Michael Ancram, the deputy Tory leader, said: "Only she can explain what role she was making the telephone call in and that is something we will want to know the answer to."

He referred to recent claims that Mr Foster had been told by immigration officials to come in for interview on 18 December, despite being ordered out of the country 12 days previously. "Given the stories we heard over the weekend that pressure had been brought on him to get him out of the country as soon as possible, I think [it] does raise very serious questions which need to be answered."

In its statement, Janes said: "We have received only one telephone call from Cherie Booth QC. This was on 22 November. It was a conference call with Carole Caplin.

"The avowed and plain purpose of the telephone call was to reassure Carole that the immigration proceedings against Peter Foster were being conducted on a regular and normal basis and there was nothing untoward. We were happy to confirm this.

"We wish to emphasise that Cherie Booth QC did not intrude into our conduct of the proceedings and for the avoidance of doubt, had no say whatsoever in our choice of representation of counsel."

Last week, Mrs Blair said Mr Foster had helped her to negotiate the purchase of the two flats in October and November. She said she had no detailed knowledge of his criminal past and said she would have been more "circumspect" had she been aware of it.

In its latest statement, Downing Street admitted she had made the call, but repeated that it did not affect the outcome of the case. It said: "At no point did she interfere in the immigration case proceedings. Nor would she. She made a short phone call to Mr Foster's solicitors as a friend of Carole Caplin to reassure Ms Caplin the solicitors were handling the case in the normal way."

There were reports last night that the Prime Minister did not know that his wife had bought the two flats until the press reported it.

Martin Bell, the former MP who was elected on an anti-sleaze platform, said on the BBC's Newsnight last night that Mrs Blair's failure to inform civil servants about her dealings with Mr Foster risked inflicting "a death by a thousand cuts" on the Government. "From what's come out today [Monday] she did know about this person's past," he said. "The civil servants must feel fairly let down, not once but twice."

Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, queried the use of the Blairs' blind trust ­ set up to protect the Prime Minister from allegations of conflict of interest ­ to buy the flats. He also questioned the role of the Number 10 press office and Home Office officials dealing with the threatened deportation of Mr Foster.

Mr Blair replied: "The Home Office have already made clear that no political interference has taken place in this case."

He also dismissed the row about his wife's connections to Mr Foster, saying in an interview with the Financial Times, "this is just part of what comes with the territory nowadays". He predicted, "this type of media frenzy will come and it will go".