UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has given a witness statement to investigators probing the Hillsborough disaster.
The Bootle-born politician continues to face mounting pressure over his handling of the 1989 tragedy in Sheffield, which saw 96 Liverpool fans unlawfully killed.
Last week Nuttall admitted that claims on his official website which made repeated references to losing ‘close personal friends’ at Hillsborough were false.
Arron Banks further fanned the flames after the prominent UKIP donor branded justice campaigners as ‘sick’ and claimed they were ‘milking a tragedy’.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has urged Nuttall, who is standing in this week’s Stoke Central by-election, to resign as his party’s leader over the current furore.
That was followed by the leaders of UKIP’s Liverpool and Merseyside’s branches ceasing their involvement due to its ‘crass insensitivity’ over Hillsborough.
But the 40-year-old has revealed that he delivered a witness statement to Operation Resolve, who are investigating the disaster, yesterday morning.
“It is part of a wider smear campaign which started last Friday,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Whereby there was a claim in a newspaper that I wasn’t actually at the Hillsborough disaster even though I provided a witness statement that I was there.
“Even though I spent three hours yesterday morning in Operation Resolve giving a witness statement.
“And this has been part of a wider smear campaign.”
Nuttall also condemned the derogatory remarks made by Banks in the hustings alongside other candidates standing in the Stoke Central by-electon.
He added: “He’s not a member of Ukip. He has given money in the past to the party.
“I can’t kick him out of an organisation that he’s not a member of.
“But I have publically condemned what he said – it was wrong or unfair.”