Wheels fall off 'assassination attempt' claim as Ukip leader Nigel Farage admits 'terrible mistake'

The claim that Nigel Farage was the victim of an "assignation attempt" has fallen apart after the Ukip leader admitting to making a "terrible mistake". The Eurosceptic firebrand revealed on Friday (8 January) that he regretted talking to the press about his October car crash in France.

The MEP lost control of his Volvo V70 in Dunkirk as he drove back from Brussels to the UK. One of the vehicle's wheels apparently came loose and eventually fell off. Farage told the Mail on Sunday that French police had said: "Sometimes nuts on one wheel can come a bit loose – but not on all four."

But French authorities and the mechanic who fixed Farage's car reportedly denied the Ukip leader's account as reported in French newspaper Liberation. Farage has since downplayed the incident and told LBC Radio on 8 January that he will no longer talk to the press about his personal security.

"My view is whether it was deliberately tampered with or not what happened, happened and I just want to get on with my life," he said. "This happened months ago." But the comments come after he told the same radio station on 3 January: "Someone clearly had loosened the wing nuts on all four of the tyres of my car."