The prime minister has rejected claims that he sought to "hijack" the Queen Mother's funeral.

Tony Blair said the claims were "as offensive as they are completely and totally untrue".

"There are 1001 more important issues for me to concern myself with," he said.

"The allegation that I tried to muscle in or hijack the Queen Mother's funeral is as offensive as it is completely and totally untrue.

"Furthermore, I have no doubt that the civil servants who handled the arrangements....did so with complete integrity as I would expect them to do," he added.

His comments came as Downing Street published a 30-page dossier of documents detailing contacts between Blair's staff and Black Lord, the House of Lords official who masterminded the lying-in-state.

The dossier, which includes restricted documents, says that "all of the contacts by members of No10 staff with Black Rod's staff were for the purpose of clarification".

Downing Street says that Blair's private secretary, Clare Sumner, contacted Black Rod by mobile telephone to clarify what role the prime minister had to play.

In total nine telephone calls were made between Blair's office and Black Rod's officials, Number 10 said on Friday.

Downing Street said there was some confusion between a document, drawn up in 1994 by the previous administration, about the exact arrangements.

A restricted document, released today by Number 10, says that "the prime minister and leaders of the other parties would also be present at the arrival" of the Queen Mother.

Downing Street says Sumner's conversation with Black Rod was intended to seek clarification on whether Blair should actually be at the door of Westminster Hall to formally meet the funeral procession.

"Each of the contacts occurred because of the need for members of staff to clarify the detailed arrangements, including security considerations, not because of any instruction, suggestion, or request by the prime minister to change the arrangements," said a spokesman.

But Conservative party chairman, David Davis, said the affair raised serious questions about Labour spindoctors.

"You can't one week try to coerce the British press to swallow your line and then the next claim it was an innocent mistake and keep your credibility," he said.

"The whole episode says so much that is wrong with a government that attempts to bully the press before trying to hoodwink the British people."

Liberal Democrat chairman, Mark Oaten, said Labour's attempts to move away from spin were pointless as long as Alastair Campbell remained in post.

"As long as Alastair Campbell exists the shadow of spin will remain just over Tony Blair's shoulder," he said.

"If the prime minister was serious about ending the spin culture then Mr Campbell's days would be numbered. Yet nobody expects Alastair Campbell to go anytime soon."

The Father of the House of Commons, Tam Dalyell, also called on the prime minister to sack Alastair Campbell.

"Alastair should go because he has become a liability,'' Dalyell told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"While he remains every government attempt to turn its back on spin will be portrayed as spin.

"Every honest endeavour to think less about headlines and more about results will be interpreted as yet more attempts to manipulate the headlines.

"I think it was a barmy decision to refer the complaint about the Queen Mother's funeral to the Press Complaints Commission.

"He should have been more relaxed about it. I don't think the Alastair Campbell of last year would have done it.''

Former Labour frontbencher Denzil Davies also added his weight to the calls for Campbell to go.

"I think on balance the time has probably come for Alastair to move on,'' he told the BBC.

"There were certain functions which he performed very well at the beginning of the first term of the Labour government. But now I think the world is changing. The publicity is very adverse at the moment.''

The row over Downing Street's actions ahead of the Queen Mother's funeral was revived after it was claimed that "killer" evidence existed to show that Tony Blair wanted to muscle-in on the lying-in-state ceremony in Westminster Hall.

The claim, published in the latest edition of The Spectator, came after Downing Street confirmed for the first time that the option of the prime minister walking to Westminster Hall was considered.

The official spokesman claimed that a number of ministers had gathered in No 10 for the event - where Jack Straw suggested they could walk to Westminster Hall.

Downing Street described it as a "purely logistical" discussion.

A spokesman insisted that there was no phone call to Black Rod. Number 10 said that a member of the prime minister's protection team "filtered through" the discussions to the House of Lords chief.

"All contacts between Downing Street and Black Rod in relation to the lying-in-state were solely to establish what the arrangements were for the prime minister's attendance," said the official spokesman.

"At no stage was there any intention or intent to try to enhance the prime minister's role in any way."

"The fact that others, for whatever reason, have chosen to interpret that contact in that way or even have come somehow to believe that it is true, does not make it true."

Downing Street rejected claims that Blair considered walking so that he could "glad-hand" with the thousands of people who turned out to pay their respects.

The latest move came as Peter Oborne, the Spectator's political editor, again challenged the account given by Downing Street.

His renewed attack came after Alastair Campbell dropped a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission earlier this week.

Oborne claims that the climbdown came after prime minister's office backed away from "technicolour and dramatic" disclosures contained in a memorandum drawn up by Black Rod.

"One person aware of the contents of this killer memo describes it as 'dynamite'," he writes in the latest edition of the magazine.

"Meanwhile, that killer memo lurks in a safe somewhere. Downing Street must be praying that it never sees the light of day."

Oborne suggests that Number 10 beat "a hasty retreat" once general Sir Michael Willcocks produced his evidence.

"From the moment of Black Rod's submission everything changed. Downing Street suddenly knew that it faced a choice between the story coming out, though in a far more technicolour and dramatic way than anyone had up to that stage realised, or beating a hasty retreat," he claims.

The Spectator, which effectively names Black Rod as the source of the damaging allegations, believes the official "behaved in a way that many might be excused for thinking had gone out of fashion in public life".

"It can only be assumed that Downing Street was banking on being able to suppress or nobble Black Rod, as so many other men and women have been nobbled in the last five years," says Oborne.

"For him it would have been the easier route: to have stood behind the mendacious Downing Street account of events and to have allowed truth to be damned as lies."

The writer claims the memo not only vindicates the press but shows "that if anything The Spectator and the Mail on Sunday had understated the amount of pressure applied by Downing Street".