UKIP's bacon cooked in Weston

The irony cannot be lost on anyone.

UKIP's candidate for Weston-super-Mare, a gentle and well-spoken GP called Steven Pearse-Danker, has had to stand down at the eleventh hour.

Fear not though, UKIP voters: he has been replaced.

The clue is in the name.

Dr Pearse-Danker is a Danish citizen - and therefore ineligible to vote in a general election, and definitely ineligible to stand as a Parliamentary candidate.

"I am disappointed," he said. "I would have liked to have got elected and help the country where I've lived since my teenage years."

He says he was vetted by UKIP HQ and thought there'd be no problem as he's stood in local elections in the past.

The guidance from the Electoral Commision though, was clear - although UKIP initially thought it was a printing error.

And he maintains there's no double-irony in a Dane standing for UKIP.

"Not if you understand UKIP's position. We stand for self-determination in UK and we also support this in all European countries," he said.

He's lost no money this time - maybe just a little bit of face.