Britain’s ambassador to North Korea has sparked outrage on his first foray into the blogosphere with an extraordinary puff piece on springtime in Pyongyang.

Peter Hughes was accused of painting Pyongyang as an idyll with his lyrical blog entry on the “festive atmosphere” of elections in the reclusive dictatorship.

The account of polling day omitted to mention the lack of opposition parties, the handpicking of candidates by the regime or the laws forcing every citizen to vote.

“Spring seems to have arrived in Pyongyang,” Mr Hughes waxed in his debut blog on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website, filling in for the British ambassador to Seoul, who is on annual leave.

“There was a very festive atmosphere throughout the city. Many people were walking to or from the polling stations, or thronging the parks to have picnics or just stroll.”

“Outside the central polling stations there were bands playing and people dancing and singing to entertain the queues of voters waiting patiently to select their representatives in the country's unicameral legislature. The booths selling drinks and snacks were very popular with the crowds and everyone seemed to be having a good time.”

Mr Hughes went on to report — straightfaced – the unsurprising results, published a day later. “There was a reported turnout of over 99 per cent of the voters and all the candidates, including Kim Jong Il, were elected with 100 per cent approval.”

He noted with pleasure the warmer weather that was bringing schoolchildren “marching through the streets in their blue uniforms with red neck kerchiefs, carrying red banners and flags” in support of their leader. “The children sing songs and chant slogans as they either walk gaily hand in hand, or march solemnly by.”

Springtime has also sparked a frenzy of vegetable planting in the small plots of land around apartment blocks – presumably to insulate against the country’s notorious food shortages. Pyongyang’s residents, however, are the country’s elite and best fed, trusted not to embarrass their Government in front of foreign guests.

Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said: “This is taking ‘going native’ to another level.” A reader who commented on the blog asked: “Is this meant to be some sort of insight from someone who works for the UK Govt, or is this just a press release from the North Korea news agency?“ Another scoffed: “Peter Hughes, you make North Korea sound like an Idyllic place to live.”

Mr Hughes wrote in his defence that he would not “apologise for portraying Pyongyang as a normal city”.

“My entry in Martin Uden's blog was not intended as political commentary, rather it was an opportunity to show that Pyongyang is not a dark and evil place populated by demons, but a city inhabited by human beings who make the best of their lives in spite of the difficulties they face on a daily basis.”

There was no mention of the joys of Pyongyang’s new Italian restaurant, reportedly opened on the orders of Kim Jong Il after he developed a fondness for pizza.

Mr Hughes confirmed, however, that his controversial guest appearance will not become a permanent fixture. “I regret that I do not have a blog because the technology to set one up is not available to us here,” he lamented.

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