Nigel Farage has stripped a controversial Ukip MEP of the party whip after he branded women at a public meeting 'sluts' in a row that overshadowed his leadership speech to conference.

Godfrey Bloom, who has previously made sexist remarks and attacked Britain for sending aid to "Bongo Bongo Land" in a reference to Africa, lost his position after Farage said the comments had gone 'beyond the pale.'

In a fringe meeting at the party's annual conference in London for a group called 'women in politics, Mr Bloom made reference to previous comments he had made about women not cleaning behind the fridge.

When the women at the meeting said they had never cleaned behind their fridges, the Yorkshire and Humberside MEP retorted: "This place is full of sluts."

Outside the event, Mr Bloom had an altercation with Channel 4's Michael Crick.

He swiped him with a copy of Ukip's conference guide and then called him a racist after being asked why there were "no black faces" on the cover of the conference brochure.

Mr Bloom said it was appalling to raise that issue and suggested it was a racist comment.

Ukip chairman Steve Crowther said: "I have withdrawn the whip from Godfrey Bloom, pending a formal disciplinary hearing."

Mr Bloom said: "I made a joke and said 'oh well you're all sluts' and everybody laughed including all the women."

Mr Farage said Mr Bloom's behaviour had been "selfish" and was overshadowing "all the good things" happening at the conference.

He added: "The trouble with Godfrey is he is not a racist, he's not an extremist or any of those things and he's not even anti-women but he has a rather old fashioned territorial army sense of humour that does not translate well in modern Britain."