Tony Blair has lodged a formal complaint with the Press Complaints Commission following reports claiming that he sought a higher profile role in the Queen Mother's lying in state.

The report first appeared in the Spectator magazine and was immediately denied by Downing Street and the office of the Black Rod.

Follow-up stories were subsequently printed in the Evening Standard and the Mail on Sunday newspapers.

Downing Street, on behalf of the prime minister, wrote to all of the publications involved demanding an apology.

When this was refused officials "reluctantly" took the rare step of referring the case to the press watchdog.

Though refusing to get into the details of what is alleged to have happened, Number 10 gave an outright denial of the claims.

"We are taking the case to the PCC. The story quite simply is not true. We are absolutely certain - categoric - that the story is not true," said the prime minister's spokesman.

"Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and the Westminster authorities have all made clear that the story is untrue and we had hoped to resolve the issue with a correction and apology in the three publications. We regret that they have all refused to do this and we are forced to take this course.

"The prime minister has many things written about him which are untrue and which he lets pass but the idea that he would seek to exploit the death of the Queen Mother is totally without foundation and deeply offensive.

"Whatever sources they may claim to have they cannot escape the fact that the story is untrue and the prime minister is determined that they should correct it and apologise."

A spokesman for the Mail on Sunday claimed that the source of the story had confirmed that the reported details were correct.

"We cannot understand why Downing Street has made this fallacious complaint which we will contest with the utmost vigour," he said.

Boris Johnson, editor of the Spectator and Conservative MP for Henley, also confirmed that he would be fighting the complaint.

"I am very sorry that Alastair Campbell has taken this decision but I can see that he got his tits in the wringer," he said.

The author of the Spectator article, Peter Oborne, told the BBC: "They want some sort of confrontation with the press at this stage. They want to change the relationship between press and government from one or sort of reluctant getting on OK to confrontation."

Tony Blair's last complaint to the PCC followed reports over son Euan's possible university applications.