London, Feb 23 (IANS) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has rejected accusations that he bullies his staff as the swirling controversy hit one of the country's largest anti-bullying charities.

'The cabinet secretary has made it clear that he's had no inquiries, there's been no reprimand, there's been no private message to me,' Brown told The Economist magazine in an interview Monday.

'[The] story is completely wrong,' he said after the accusations surfaced in a book by political journalist Andrew Rawnsley.

The allegations against Brown escalated into a political row Monday after the head of the National Bullying Helpline, who has backed up the charges, was accused by government ministers of working in alliance with the opposition Conservative Party.

Christine Pratt, who is chief executive of the helpline, said: 'I have even received an email from someone who is alleging that they have [an] issue with Gordon Brown also, but we will be addressing that confidentially and separately and I will be obviously referring that to Number 10 [Downing Street, the British premier's office].'

Alongside, veteran Conservative MP Ann Widdecombe and two others - a television broadcaster and a workplace stress expert - quit as patrons of the body.

Brown's no. 2 in the British cabinet, Lord Peter Mandelson claimed that the charity had been 'used' by the Conservatives and former deputy prime minister John Prescott described Pratt as 'very suspect'.

Mandelson said: 'It now looks like more of a political operation that's under way directed at the Prime Minister personally. I just think it's really, really unfortunate that somebody should use a charity in this way.'

He claimed Pratt had been 'guided or otherwise by some Tory Party press officer' - an accusation denied by the charity.

Cabinet secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell has rejected Conservative and Liberal Democrat calls for a public inquiry and denied he had ever raised concerns with Brown about bullying behaviour.