Farah took gold in 28 minutes, 24.99 seconds ahead of team-mate Chris Thompson.

The Somalia-born 27-year-old hit the front in a slow race with five laps to go but then beckoned Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem take up the pace with just over three laps remaining.

Remarkably, a lap later Farah was so confident he turned around to encourage Thompson, who was engaged in a battle with Italy’s Daniele Meucci some 30m behind.

And the gambit paid dividends as Farah stormed clear with 350m to go and Thompson produced a rousing finish to overhaul Lamdassem and just hold off Meucci on the line, with both given a time of 28:27.33.

‘That was amazing,’ beamed Farah. ‘To win with him [Thompson] second is the best result I could have expected.’

A delighted Thompson added: ‘Winning the silver was my gold and I am so proud to do it behind this man.’

Earlier, Martin Rooney cruised into the semi-finals of the 400m, finishing a comfortable second in the opening heat in 45.72sec.

The Beijing Olympic finalist was joined in Tuesday's semis by fellow Britons Michael Bingham and Conrad Williams, Bingham impressively winning the final heat in 45.49 while Williams was third in heat four.

Perri Shakes-Drayton and Eilidh Child also showed good form in booking places in the semi-finals of the 400m hurdles.