The Queen is reportedly set to invite Donald Trump to Windsor Castle on an official state visit to the UK.

According to several newspapers, senior government officials are said to be drawing up plans for the visit as early as next year, as they ponder how to cement the “special relationship”.

The President-elect reportedly told Prime Minister Theresa May during a phone call last week that his late Scottish mother was a “big fan” of the Queen, according to the Sunday Times.

Mrs May could use the state visit to curry his favour, the newspaper added.

The move would also allow Mrs May to swat away claims that UKIP acting leader Nigel Farage has closer links to the tycoon, which have been dismissed by Downing Street.

A spokeswoman for No 10 said: “No visit has been organised but the Prime Minister is looking forward to welcoming the president-elect to the UK when he chooses to visit.”

Mrs May has been invited to visit Mr Trump at the earliest possible opportunity and she is expected to travel to the US after he is inaugurated on 20 January.

But a state visit by Mr Trump to the UK would allow her to roll out the red carpet and offer a meeting with the Queen.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “State visits and other meetings with overseas heads of state are organised on the advice of the Government.”

The reports came as Mrs May faced fresh calls to deliver what will be seen as a “hard Brexit” from a group of 60 Conservative MPs including prominent former cabinet ministers.

Michael Gove, Iain Duncan Smith, John Whittingdale and Theresa Villiers urged the PM to pull Britain out of the European single market and the customs union.

They claimed getting out of the single market free trade zone was crucial for the UK to become free of Brussels regulations.

Eleven Labour, DUP and UKIP MPs also reportedly backed the call.

A Government spokeswoman insisted there were “no binary choices” in the UK’s future trading relationship with the EU and that the Government would pursue a bespoke deal rather than an “off the shelf” solution.

She added: “That’s why the Government is painstakingly analysing the challenges and opportunities for all the different sectors of our economy.

“The Prime Minister has been clear that she wants UK companies to have the maximum freedom to trade with and operate in the single market – and to let European businesses do the same here.”