Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was detained over suspected sex offences, the Foreign Office confirmed.

He was in jail on 26 and 27 December and deported on 28 December, it said.

Glitter, who has been jailed in Britain for child pornography offences, is understood to have flown to Bangkok in Thailand.

Deportation challenge

The Foreign Office was unable to say exactly why he had been detained and then deported.

However, according to reports Glitter had been arrested over allegations of assault against young boys.

The conviction ended Glitter's career

His lawyers are thought to be challenging the deportation from Cambodia.

But Stephen Jakobi, of Fair Trials Abroad, said it was "hard to challenge deportation from another country".

"As a foreign national I can't see that he really has any claim to be in a foreign country," he said.

Mr Jakobi added that it was "really rather difficult" to get "proper legal processes" due to Cambodia's legal system.

Campaign

Before his deportation Glitter, 58, had already spent time in Cambodia.

There's just no protection for children in abuse hotspots such as Cambodia, Bosnia and Thailand World Vision

He previously left the country in May 2002, following a police investigation prompted by news of his child pornography conviction in the UK.

He had been accused of no crimes in Cambodia at that point, but the country's Minister of Women's Affairs, Mu Sochua, led a campaign to deport him on the grounds that his presence was bad for the country's image.

Cambodia's deputy prime minister, Sar Kheng, appealed to the Interior Ministry to ask Glitter to leave "as soon as possible" as a "preventative measure for protecting the well-being of our children".

'No protection'

Despite his deportation campaign group World Vision said a legal loophole could allow Glitter to return to Cambodia, as long as his trip is no longer than eight days.

It also called on the government to close the "dangerous loophole" in the way which sex offenders like him are dealt with.

"It's outrageous that a known sex offender who is travelling for less than eight days doesn't have to tell anyone where they are going," it said.

"There's just no protection for children in abuse hotspots such as Cambodia, Bosnia and Thailand."

Cuban girlfriend

In 1999, Glitter was sentenced to four months in a British prison for downloading child pornography from the internet.

He pleaded guilty to 54 offences of making indecent photographs of children under 16 on the internet.

On leaving prison, Glitter first went to Cuba with his Cuban girlfriend but he moved after a newspaper exposed his whereabouts.

He is on the sex offenders' register in the UK.