Man charged with Farage 'assault'

A 37-year-old man has been charged with assaulting Ukip leader Nigel Farage after he was allegedly hit over the head with a placard outside a seaside hotel.

Unemployed Andrew Scott is accused of striking the 49-year-old politician as he entered the Walpole Bay Hotel in Cliftonville, Margate, Kent, yesterday afternoon.

Scott was arrested at his home in Ramsgate Road, Margate, at 11.20pm yesterday and charged this afternoon with assault by beating, Kent Police said.

He has been freed on conditional police bail until he appears at Margate Magistrates' Court on March 3. Mr Farage was not hurt in the incident.

Television footage captured minders and police ushering Mr Farage through a noisy crowd of protesters, some of whom were voicing their opposition to fox hunting.

Scott has been told he must not attend any political event of any political party, either in protest or support, and he must not contact witnesses, police said.

In a separate incident, police are investigating after another man attended Margate police station to report he was also assaulted at the hotel at around the same time.