UKIP candidates had to deal with “one or two incidents” during door-knocking campaigns in Haringey, the party’s regional chairman has revealed.

Roger Gravett said his candidates had run-ins with voters as they knocked on doors in what he admits is “a tough borough” for his party.

The anti-EU group, branded “racist” by Tottenham MP David Lammy earlier this week, fielded a record eight candidates across the borough in this year’s local elections.

And Mr Gravett, a site manager at Lordship Lane Primary School in Tottenham, admitted the campaign had not all gone smoothly.

He said: “The reaction on the doorstep has been good, though one or two of our guys had a few incidents.

“Most people, though, have been keen to talk. This is new ground for us and we’re building a platform for the future.

“As Winston Churchill said: ‘This is not the end, nor the beginning of the end, it is the end of the beginning’.”

Labour politician Mr Lammy labelled UKIP leader Nigel Farage a racist this week in the wake of Mr Farage's comments on Romanians in a radio interview.

Asked what he thought about the MP’s views, Mr Gravett said: “I haven’t heard or read what he’s said to be honest so I don’t want to comment.

“But with the amount of mud thrown by other parties and the media, who are in fear because of how popular we’re becoming, I’m not surprised.”