Kenneth Clarke has hit out at fresh allegations concerning his deputy chairmanship of British American Tobacco.

Sunday Business reports that the former chancellor and Tory leadership contender may be brought before a US court to face allegations that BAT has links to organised crime.

A writ filed in Brooklyn, New York, by a group of Colombian states, accuses BAT and US tobacco giant Philip Morris of smuggling, price fixing and money laundering, said.

But Kenneth Clarke and his supporters have again lashed out at the anti-tobacco lobby and branded the latest revelation as "nothing more than a publicity stunt".

"It strikes me as quite ridiculous to ask me to give evidence about something which happened in Colombia in the early 1990s when I had no connection with BAT.

"It has not been given permission to proceed and similar actions have been thrown out in the past," Clarke said.

Clarke supporters have described the new claims as a politically motivated smear.

"This is nothing more than another publicity stunt by the anti-smoking lobby and political forces to discredit a candidate. It does not wash," a source said.

But the anti-smoking lobby has warned Clarke that he faces being "hounded" over his connections with the tobacco industry and may spend "more time in the international courts defending BAT than leading the Tory party".

"Clarke's association with BAT looks like it will hound him all over the world and this association hardly makes him a desirable candidate for the Tory leadership," said Karl Brookes, a spokesman for Action on Smoking and Health.