ONE of the senior UKIP figures to quit the party over demands its leader David Coburn be replaced has accused the MEP of persistently mispronouncing the name of an Asian rival.

Former party candidate Richard Lucas said Mr Coburn and ex-UKIP chairman Arthur 'Misty' Thackeray had a "deliberate plan" to mispronounce the name of the SNP MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh during the European elections.

Mr Lucas said Mr Thackeray, who was stood down last November due to criminal charges, had "bragged (about) 'Operation Trashmina'".

The Herald reported the allegations last year, which followed revelations Mr Coburn referred to Scottish Government minister Humza Yousaf as 'Abu Hamza', the extremist preacher.

At the time Mr Thackeray said he did not recognise the term 'Operation Trashmina' reference, accusing those criticising his boss of being "humourless and thin-skinned" and "trying to make faux outrage stories about a slip of the tongue over a name".

But in an interview with the BBC Mr Lucas said: "The first thing that alerted me to the character of David Coburn was when his right hand man Misty Thackeray bragged to me that David Coburn had deliberately mispronounced the name of Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh, bragged to me he had mispronounced her name in multiple ways in a hustings debate. He told me that he and David Coburn called this 'Operation Trashmina'.

"It was a deliberate plan. It's there on Youtube for people to see for themselves. When this came out in the papers Misty Thackeray and David Coburn both denied this and said it was accidental. For me standards of decency and integrity are more important than political influence."

Mr Lucas was one of 10 senior UKIP activists to called for Mr Coburn to be replaced.

The demand was made in a letter to London-based bosses and claims the party's electoral chances will be damaged if the "gaffe-prone" MEP remains.

Mr Coburn dismissed the criticism as "nonsense" and has received the backing of UKIP leader Nigel Farage who described his colleague as a "highly colourful, larger-than-life" figure.

But on the BBC's Good Morning Scotland, Mr Lucas added: "People should know that if they are considering voting for David Coburn they need to know about his character.

"I voted David Coburn in the European elections but at that point I didn't know David Coburn's character or standards to which he operates.

"I sent communications back in November raising very serious concerns. In November the chairman was stood down because he is facing charges, there are repeated reports of his links to far right organisations and I've heard him say he's known Nick Griffin for 30 years but now refuses to admit that.

"I am perfectly happy to work with someone who is gay but not someone who lacks standards of decency."

In 2014 Mr Thackeray notoriously claimed Glasgow City Council was for "gays, Catholics and communists", accusing it of a "suffocating culture of anti-loyalism" and criticising efforts to curb a march by the far-right Scottish Defence League.

Mr Thackeray has also sought to compare Catholicism and Islam as "inwardly sharing a fascist ideology".

Mr Coburn said he would respond to Mr Lucas's claims at a press conference in Inverness but on Twitter he claimed: "None of the 10 disgruntled people are SP16 candidates therefore appears selection process worked extremely well."

He said some of those involved in the row had left the party, adding: "10 disgruntled people out of more than 1000 members represents 1% in fact 0.5% as half of them have left."

The MEP is one of 26 candidates Ukip is putting forward on the regional list section for the Holyrood election.