Lord Levy's book: 'I warned Tony Blair about long massages with Carole Caplin'

Known as Lord Cashpoint, he was at the heart of Mr Blair's team as well as being at the centre of the cash-for-honours scandal that rocked his last year at Number 10.

Lord Levy's book reveals that he was asked by a senior figure within Downing Street to confront Tony Blair over "long massages" that the then Prime Minister was said to be receiving from Carole Caplin.

He says he was asked to intervene when rumours swept No10 about visits that the fitness guru was paying to the Prime Minister's country home, Chequers.

And when the peer raised the matter at a private meeting in Downing Street, an embarrassed Mr Blair "went bright red".

Lord Levy writes: "With increasingly worrisome media reports of Carole's role, a key member of Tony's team asked me to see the Prime Minister and use my personal relationship with him to urge 'distance'.

"The concern was not just about Cherie. The main worry was Tony – specifically, gossip within No10 concerning visits Carole was making to Chequers to give an increasingly stressed Prime Minister long massages.

"When I went to see Tony, I was deeply uncomfortable about raising the subject. But I told him there was a real danger Carole could become 'not just an issue for Cherie but for you'.

"Tony went bright red. I never raised the matter again, and nor did he. But he got the message."

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It is understood the meeting took place around the start of the Iraq War in 2003, the most difficult period in Mr Blair's leadership.

The disclosures follow years of speculation over Miss Caplin's role in the Blairs' entourage – and show for the first time how great a worry she became within the uppermost levels of the Government.

Several years ago Miss Caplin's former boyfriend Peter Foster claimed she was "in love" with Mr Blair and that they had an "intimate" friendship.

Foster also boasted Caplin knew "secrets that would finish the Blairs for ever" but did not elaborate.

On a BBC documentary five years ago, Mr Blair was heard leaving a late-night message on Miss Caplin's answering machine.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Lord Levy gave further details of his role in trying to persuade Mr Blair to stay away from Miss Caplin.

Asked about the Downing Street gossip that led to their meeting, he said: "The rumours were that when he was stressed out, if she was at Chequers she would occasionally give him a massage so as to take away some of the anxieties and pressures."

Lord Levy said he had "no idea" whether Mrs Blair was at Chequers at the time.

Nor would he reveal if the unnamed aide who asked him to confront the Prime Minister was Jonathan Powell, the No10 chief of staff.

Asked how Mr Blair responded when challenged over the massages, Lord Levy replied: "He went red as if to say, 'Wow! Are those the rumours going around?'

"It wasn't a matter of being blunt. It was a matter of saying, 'Look, one of your key people has asked me to raise this, someone who is a special friend, and I have been asked to put this to you.'

"It wasn't the easiest thing to do but I did it."

When asked if the Chequers massages then stopped, Lord Levy said: "I don't know."

The peer said he understood that after their meeting Mr Blair "rethought the whole situation with regard to him, Cherie and Carole. I was not the only person who mentioned this to him".

He added Mr Blair's spin-doctor, Alastair Campbell – who called Miss Caplin "trouble in a designer dress" – was also worried about the effect Mr Blair's links with the former model were having on his standing.

The Blairs refused to disown Miss Caplin during the 2002 "Cheriegate" scandal, when it emerged that Mrs Blair had used Mr Foster, a convicted fraudster, to obtain a discount for her on two flats in Bristol.

Miss Caplin was eventually cast adrift a year later.

But more recently, it has been reported that she has renewed her friendship with the Blairs.

Miss Caplin told friends that Mr Blair had asked for her help in reducing his wrinkles before he posed for an official painting and jokingly enquired if she could advise him on how get rid of his "man boobs" after he was pictured on holiday in Miami in just his swimming shorts.