A spokesman for Mr Hancock, who represents West Suffolk, said it was an “unpleasant encounter”.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting former health secretary Matt Hancock in a Tube station, British Transport Police have said.

A 61-year-old man is in custody, on suspicion of common assault and a public order offence, after an incident at Westminster Underground station, British Transport Police said. It happened on Tuesday morning, but details have only just been released.

44-year-old Mr Hancock was health secretary when the coronavirus pandemic struck and was a key figure in the lockdown restrictions and vaccine rollout that followed.

He resigned after leaked CCTV image showed him kissing an adviser in his office, in breach of his own social distancing guidance.

Footage posted to social media shows a member of the Tube staff walking with Mr Hancock along a platform and getting on a Tube train, then pleading with a man to stop following them and making accusations.

At one point, the MP for West Suffolk, who was unhurt in the incident, tells the employee that he appreciates her walking with him.

She also accompanies him during the Tube journey while a man is heard continuing his accusations and using foul language.