LABOUR peer Lord Mackenzie last night denied claims that he had sex with a prostitute he met in a House of Commons bar.

The 59-year-old father-of-two - who is a Home Office advisor and former Chief Superintendent of Durham Police - said he was the victim of a "tabloid set-up" and would not consider resigning.

But he admitted that he was mistaken in inviting Salima Kebache to his London flat, just a day after first meeting her.

Brian Mackenzie, appointed to the House of Lords by Prime Minister Tony Blair, said: "This was a classic tabloid set up in the heart of Parliament, and I walked right into it.

"I have apologised to my wife and two sons for the embarrassment that has been caused to the family."

The News of the World reported yesterday how he met the 32-year-old French-Algerian on Wednesday when she was working as a barmaid in the Commons' Sports and Social Club.

The next day, Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate gave her a guided tour of the House of Lords.

Later that evening she went to his flat, emerging almost three hours later.

The newspaper claimed she later told a friend that the pair had sex during the visit.

Last night, the Darlington-born former President of the Police Superintendents' Association insisted nothing untoward had happened.

"I got talking to her and she was multilingual and working as an interpreter. She was only temping as a barmaid.

"She seemed very interested in the workings of the building and I agreed to give her a tour of the building with a description of the architecture and procedures.

"I assumed throughout she was no security risk as she was employed by the House and would have been vetted."

Lord Mackenzie said that after giving her a tour of the Lords, she called him at 11.45pm saying she was "distressed and wanted somebody to talk to".

He said: "I foolishly allowed her to come around until 2am, which was a fatal mistake." They had spent the time discussing Parliament and Iraq.

"There was certainly no sex and no money changed hands," he said.

"You can imagine my shock when the tabloid concerned informed me that they had set the whole thing up and that she was really an Algerian prostitute."

Lord Mackenzie, who is a graduate of the FBI Academy in the US and has a law degree from London University, said he had no intention of suing The News of the World.

"It would be very difficult to prove what did or didn't happen. Probably the best is to leave it and let it die a death." He said he would be discussing the security implications with the Parliamentary authorities.