The authors have analysed gliadin specific, CD4+ T cells isolated from small intestinal biopsies of 23 adult coeliac disease patients (20 on a gluten‐free diet and three untreated) and nine control patients. The biopsies were stimulated ex vivo with a peptic/tryptic digest of gliadin for 24 h, and activated T cells were positively selected with paramagnetic beads coated with an antibody against the interleukin‐2 receptor. The T cells were expanded and tested for gliadin reactivity and HLA restriction. Gliadin specific, polyclonal T cell lines were recovered from biopsies of all 23 patients. Inhibition studies of T cell lines from 21 patients with anti‐HLA monoclonal antibodies indicated predominant presentation of the gliadin antigen by HLA‐DQ2 in T cell lines from 11 patients (lines from seven patients with complete MoAb inhibition, the remaining with incomplete inhibition) and incomplete inhibition by HLA‐DR3 in lines from three patients. Nine gliadin specific T cell clones from six patients were established; all of these were HLA‐DQ2 restricted. Gliadin specific T cells were not found in biopsies from the non‐coeliac controls. Our findings demonstrate that gliadin reactive T cells are commonly found in the intestinal mucosa of CD patients and they support the notion that the majority of T cells recognize gliadin peptide(s) when presented by the disease associated DQ2 molecules.