Donald Trump has hit back as the fallout mounts over his remarks about immigrants from Mexico, with a £320 million lawsuit to match his trademark brashness.

The action against Univision for dropping the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants claims breach of contract, defamation and First Amendment breaches, and claims the American Spanish language broadcaster turned on him because it supports Democrat Hillary Clinton for US president.

In a statement, Univision called Republican presidential candidate and The Apprentice host Mr Trump's lawsuit "factually false and legally ridiculous", saying it would "continue to fight against Mr Trump's ongoing efforts to run away from the derogatory comments he made".

Univision, which moved last week to opt out of Mr Trump's pageants because of the celebrity tycoon's remarks earlier this month, is now far from alone.

A TV company backed by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has said it is scrapping a project in development with him, and Mexico said it would not be sending a contestant to the Miss Universe contest, which Mr Slim partly owns.

Ora TV became the latest company to cut ties with Mr Trump over his presidential campaign kick-off speech in which he declared that some Mexican immigrants brought drugs and crime to the US and were rapists.

Miss Mexico pageant director Lupita Jones said Mexico would boycott Miss Universe and said Mr Trump had damaged the pageant and its tradition of convening countries for an event that showcases "friendship, unity and breaking down cultural barriers".

In a TV interview, Mr Trump said contestants were suffering because of the backlash.

Mr Trump refused to back down from his campaign remarks, calling them "totally accurate".