Fury over Cameron's Lithuanian joke

Vygaudas Usackas wrote to the Conservatives demanding an explanation for Mr Cameron's comment at a recent arts funding lunch that he hoped no grants were being given to "one-legged Lithuanian dance troupes".

Although the comment was brushed off as a minor gaffe in the UK when it was reported in the Mail on Sunday last weekend, it has provoked heated debate in Lithuania, where on Tuesday morning it was the lead story on the website of newspaper Lietuvos Rytas.

In his letter, Mr Usackas said: "It would be incredibly helpful to understand exactly what you meant when referring to 'Lithuanians' and how this relates, if at all, to the Arts Council... This will enable me to pass your message to the many Lithuanians living in the UK and also to their homeland, where this report has caused a great deal of concern."

Mr Cameron's chief of staff Ed Llewellyn spoke to the ambassador and the Tory leader himself on Monday night wrote to assure Mr Usackas that no offence had been meant by his comment.

A Conservative spokeswoman said that Mr Cameron had plucked the word "Lithuanian" from the air when making a point about the perceived opinion that grants can end up going to unusual causes, and had not intended to make any comment at all about the Baltic state or its people.

"We have had a dialogue with the ambassador last night, and we just wanted to stress that absolutely no offence was meant in David's comment," she said.

"It's not in any way a slight to Lithuania, with which we have very friendly relations."