A member of Ukip's national executive committee (NEC) has said tonight that leader Henry Bolton should step down.

Piers Wauchope, a former Tunbridge Wells councillor who was the party’s election candidate in North Thanet in 2015, says too much damage has been done.

He was speaking after former soldier Mr Bolton received a unanimous vote of no confidence from NEC members.

This has triggered an emergency general meeting (EGM) of the party to allow members to endorse or reject the vote.

Mr Wauchope said: “The general feeling [of the NEC] was that the damage that had been caused could not really be repaired. Now we have to have an EGM which is a cause of great concern.”

Asked if he felt Mr Bolton should step aside before the EGM, he said: “I very much hope so as the general view is that it would be crazy for him to carry on.

"A lot of members are thinking that if he does [carry on] he’s going to cause as much damage as he can.

“It is difficult not to feel some sympathy for him but I’m afraid he has brought it on himself.”

Mr Bolton had warned party chiefs they risked the party being torn apart if they passed a vote of no confidence in him.

Speaking ahead of today's meeting of the NEC, which was called to consider his relationship with the glamour model Jo Marney from Maidstone, he was adamant he would not be quitting.

He has been engulfed in a controversy after his relationship hit the headlines and it emerged he had left his third wife for the 25-year-old model.

The controversy centred on social media racist posts she had made about Prince Harry and fiancee Meghan Markle, who she said had tainted the Royal Family.

Although he said that he had ended the relationship, the pair have since been seen together.

Before today's meeting, he took to the airwaves to underline his intention to stay put.

Mr Bolton said: “[A new leadership election] is going to disrupt us. It’s going to take three to five months of a refocusing on that election. It’s going to take us off the battlefield for the Brexit debate."

"We can't afford to do that politically. The infighting that will result will give our enemies more than enough ammunition to pull the party apart."

But a former ally of Mr Bolton, Susie Govett, a Shepway councillor who acted as his press aide during his leadership campaign but resigned in protest from the party on Friday, said: "The NEC made exactly the right decision.

"If Bolton believes an EGM will break the party, as he has stated, then he should do the right thing and step down immediately to save the party from further damage and distraction."

Frank McKenna, a former Ukip county councillor and chairman of the Folkestone constituency party, said he had some sympathy with Mr Bolton.

"How do you separate the private life from the public one? Are we to be judge and jury over every politician? If we are, we might as well start on all the MPs."

He added the party was already facing financial problems and a leadership contest would prove costly.

If the NEC does pass a vote of no confidence, party rules state there would then need to be a wider vote of members to confirm it.