Katie Hopkins joked she had been asked 'not to offend Lowestoft' as she appeared alongside the Ukip leader and other senior party members at a rally in the coastal town.

Ukip brought its battle bus to Lowestoft on Tuesday, as the party campaigns for votes in the upcoming European elections.

But leader Gerard Batten told members at the Hatfield Hotel in the evening that even holding the elections made it more likely the UK would remain in the EU.

Responding to a question from a woman who said she "saw a post that by taking part in the European elections we are volunteering to overturn the referendum", he said: "We should not be taking part that's true. My feeling is it makes it harder for us to leave because we can't believe Mrs May."

He added: "If you send MEPs back to Brussels and Strasbourg it makes leaving less likely. Which is all the more reason to have more Ukip MEPs."

One Ukip member said: "If we do have a second referendum and it went against us going out, we would want a third one, surely."

But Mr Batten said: "If they have a second referendum the question will be do you want to remain in the EU or stay in the EU?"

Mr Batten also took aim at Nigel Farage's Brexit Party - which he called "Tory lite" - and east of England Ukip MEP Stuart Agnew accused his former leader of extending Brexit.

Mr Batten said: "Nigel, if he wanted to, could have stayed in Ukip. He could have been the leader, I would not have stood up as interim leader."

But he said Mr Farage did not want to operate in a democratic party structure.

He said: "He wants a party where he is in sole control."

While Mr Agnew said at an emergency meeting in Europe, where there was a vote on whether to grant Theresa May an extension, that Mr Farage had voted for it.

He said: "He wanted her to be granted an extension so he could parade his candidates for the European election."

While Mrs Hopkins thanked those who spoiled their ballots in recent local elections, if there was no leave-supporting candidate.

She said they were "standing up for democracy" and she said the issues on which people voted for Brexit still remained, citing "uncontrolled migration", not being able to get into first choice schools, and waiting lists for hip operations.