Lord Ashdown urged Mr Cameron to ?dissociate himself from a deeply personalised campaign which, frankly, no British Prime Minister should ever be associated with".
While Mr Cameron has stopped short of mentioning his deputy by name when campaigning against AV, his supporters have frequently played on Mr Clegg?s unpopularity with voters, which has led to him being dropped from high-profile events held by the Yes campaign.
The Prime Minister did, however, come close to criticising the Lib Dem leader earlier in the week when he advised voters that AV would encourage politicians to promise policies which they would ditch during Coalition talks.
Mr Clegg has repeatedly come under fire for abandoning a pre-election pledge to abolish university tuition fees.
The Lib Dems have become increasingly dismayed at the nature of the No campaign attacks on their leader.
While they overwhelming support a change in the voting system, and holding the referendum was the top priority for Mr Clegg during the negotiations to form the Coalition, most Conservatives and some Labour members are opposed to AV.
Lord Ashdown went on: "It's not surprising that the No campaign can't defend the rotten status quo, but stooping to peddling lies and misleading the electorate will not be tolerated.
"That's why the Prime Minister must intervene in the No campaign, which is at this stage nothing more than a Tory front, and ensure he doesn't deny the British people the open and decent debate which they deserve on this important issue."
Chris Huhne, the Lib Dem Energy Secretary, has also accused the Conservatives of harming the Coalition during the course of the referendum campaign, which will conclude on May 5.
He said: "I am frankly shocked that Coalition partners can stoop to a level of campaign that we have not seen in this country before. I think it is damaging. There is no doubt about it.
?I can never remember a campaign that has stooped as low as the No campaign in dredging up stuff that they know is downright lies. I think this is the politics of the gutter."
William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, insisted however that comments made by the No campaign about Mr Clegg would not cause lasting harm.
Asked if campaigning had become too personal, Mr Hague said: ?No I don?t think so.
?There are always personal elements that creep into campaigns, personally I try not to bring those things in, but they do creep in.
?It won?t damage the Coalition. I think we should all stick to the issues, but I think the campaign is mainly about the issues, and the more people can see the issues and the merits of the argument the more they will see that they should vote no.
Siobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitcham and Morden and head of Labour No to AV, said: "This hysterical outburst from Paddy Ashdown shows how the Yes campaign is getting increasingly desperate in their attacks on the No campaign.
"In politics, when you start accusing people of lying, instead of trying to explain the issue at hand, you have lost the argument."
A Conservative source angrily rejected suggestions that Mr Clegg had been singled out for personal attacks by Mr Cameron.
The source claimed that the real ?violent? attacks had come from the Yes campaign and had been directed at Baroness Warsi, the Tory party chairman.
?The language used against Sayeeda Warsi has been beyond the pale, talking about her encouraging race riots and comparing her with Nazi propagandist Goebbels. That is the real scandal here,? the source said.
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