Jeffrey Epstein made $75,000 (£55,000) of payments to accounts connected to Lord Mandelson, bank statements released by the US Department of Justice suggest.

Between 2003 and 2004, Epstein appears to have sent three separate $25,000 payments referencing Lord Mandelson.

The payments appear as part of millions of documents released on Friday relating to late sex offender Epstein, the largest number shared by the US government since a law mandated their release last year.

Lord Mandelson said he had no record or recollection of receiving the sums and did not know whether the documents were authentic.

He reiterated his regret for ever having known Epstein and for continuing his association following the disgraced financier's conviction, apologising unequivocally to the women and girls who suffered.

Images of the former UK ambassador to the US in his underwear have also been uncovered in the latest tranche of Epstein files.

He has said he cannot place the location or the woman and I cannot think what the circumstances were.

It is unclear if the three payments ever made it into any of the named accounts.

Da Silva, who married Lord Mandelson in 2023, appears elsewhere in the most recent Epstein release. Emails from 2009 show Epstein sent him £10,000 for an osteopathy course.

Emails revealed he had been in contact with Epstein after the US financier's 2008 conviction, sending a string of supportive messages.

On 11 January, he told Laura Kuenssberg that his relationship with Epstein was a terrible mistake.

During the interview, Lord Mandelson also said he believed he was kept separate from Epstein's sex life and denied seeing young girls at Epstein's properties.

Days later, he offered a more direct apology to the victims of the disgraced financier, telling Newsnight he was wrong to continue associating with Epstein.

Epstein's 2008 conviction was part of a plea bargain he reached in Florida. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges, including soliciting girls as young as 14 for prostitution.

In 2019, Epstein died in a New York prison cell while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.