Rishi Sunak says someone has now taught him how to use a contactless bank card

Chancellor says publicity stunt earlier this year was embarrassing

Rishi Sunak has admitted that someone has had to teach him how to use a contactless card machine after he was pictured struggling with one during a photo-op.

The 42-year-old former chancellor was got into difficulty paying for petrol in March this year, apparently unfamiliar with the everyday technology.

The episode raised questions about whether the man in charge of the country's finances and one of the country's richest MPs ever did his own shopping.

Asked during a leadership hustings in Darlington on Tuesday night what the most embarrassing thing to happen to him was, Mr Sunak said:

“The most embarrassing thing that's happened to me is I struggled to pay for the petrol in a car that wasn't my own.

“Right? So I think you all know about that, right?"

The ex-chancellor, who is trailing Liz Truss in the polls to replace Boris Johnson added: "Since then someone's taught me how to use that contactless machine.

“And I tell you, it's an amazing modern marvel this technology these days!”

The episode in March happened during a publicity stunt for a 5p cut in fuel duty, during which he filled up a Kia Rio car with his own money.

Mr Sunak and his wife Akshata Murty feature on the Sunday Times rich list thanks to Ms Murthy's £690m stake in Infosys, a company founded by her father.

Batting away suggestions that he had always been privileged, Mr Sunak told last night’s hustings: “I wasn’t born like this."