'Violent' British PM urged not to bully his staff

London: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has come under pressure after an anti-bullying charity chief claimed it had been contacted by the staff from his office, amid allegations about his violent temper.

But his ruling Labour party, mindful of the upcoming election, went into an offensive, with his top aide calling for evidence to be made upfront.

National Bullying Helpline chief executive Christine Pratt alleged that three-four contacts had been made by the 10 Downing Street staff in recent years.

A new book by leading journalist Andrew Rawnsley has claimed that Brown had grabbed a staff member by lapel and shouted at him, punched the back of a car seat after receiving a bad news and repeatedly swore at advisers.

Brown's woes were compounded when The Observer newspaper reported that civil service head Sir Gus O'Donnell had warned the Prime Minister about behaviour towards staff.

Reacting to the claims in the book Brown said he had "never hit anyone in his life".

Things were sometimes said "in the heat of the moment", but "I have never hit anyone in my life," Brown said in an interview to 'Channel 4 News'.

"If I get angry, I get angry with myself... I throw the newspapers on the floor or something like that, but please," Brown said.

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The anti-bullying boss said Patt decided to go public with her concern as she had been angered by ministers leaping to defend Brown over the book's extracts published Sunday which claimed that the Premier terrified staff with his behaviour.

Labour MP Anne Snelgrove, who is Prime Minister's Parliamentary private secretary, said the charity "needs to demonstrate that these questions really have come from staff at Number 10".

"Why is she (Ms Pratt) going public with this rather than taking it up privately if these phone calls were genuine?" Snelgrove said.

The charity's chief executive told the BBC that its helpline had been called three or four times by Downing Street staff in the last three or four years.

Pratt said: "Over recent months we have had several inquiries from staff within Gordon Brown's office.

"Some have downloaded information; some have actually called our helpline directly and I have spoken to staff in his office".

She said she would expect any employer in this situation not to "go into denial, but to look into it, to follow due process".

Outright denial could "compound the stress of those who believe they are being bullied," she said.

"We are not suggesting that Gordon Brown is a bully, what we are saying is staff in his office working directly with him have issues and have concerns and have contacted our helpline".