An MP has been left red-faced after accidentally directing his constituents to a German pornography website.

Horsham MP Francis Maude sponsored a campaign for a new hospital in Pease Pottage, which ran from a website with the address c4pph.org.

But the domain name was later bought by another user and the website became transformed into a site for German erotic fiction.

The link to the former campaign site appeared on Conservative cabinet office minister Mr Maude’s own webpage until this week under the words – “working hard for Horsham.”

Mr Maude tells his constituents on his website: “I hope you find my website interesting and useful.”

The German website is littered with links to other, more extreme pornographic sites, dating agencies and erotic chat rooms.

It is not known exactly how long the mistake went unnoticed, but the link has now been removed from Mr Maude’s site.

A Google search for Campaign 4 Pease Pottage Hospital now brings up two results, the first for the erotic site and the second for Mr Maude’s campaign, which was also backed by Crawley MP Henry Smith.

Yesterday a spokesman for Mr Maude said: “The campaign no longer owns or operates the c4pph.org web address and hasn't done so since last year. We understand the domain name is now under new ownership with no connection to the campaign."

Mr Maude was not available to speak to The Argus.