DAVID Cameron will be "cheating the British people" if he takes advantage of wrangling over the format of election-time debates to wriggle out of TV clashes, Nick Clegg has said.

Proposals put forward by broadcasters for three debates with a varying cast of leaders sparked intense disagreement among political parties, with Greens and nationalists protesting they should not be excluded while Ukip's Nigel Farage is invited into a broadcast.

Liberal Democrats have objected to the suggestion that another proposed debate should be a head-to-head contest between Mr Cameron and Labour's Ed Miliband only, while the third would feature all three main Westminster leaders.

Mr Clegg warned that differences over the format must not be used by the Prime Minister as an "alibi" for backing out. He said: "The last thing I want is for all this argy-bargy between the parties to be used as an alibi by the larger political parties to wriggle out of having these debates altogether. That would be cheating the British people.

"I think the British people like the idea of having all of us up there having to speak for ourselves and having to do battle through these leaders' debates. If you are the occupant of Number 10 and you have all the advantages of being able to do all that stuff from the steps of Number 10, which the rest of us can't, you don't have much incentive to operate on the same level as everybody else."