A MEETING of the South West Wiltshire branch of UKIP at the Warminster Athenaeum resulted in police attending on Sunday, following reports of a scuffle breaking out.

Officers were called to the theatre in High Street, Warminster, at around 3.30pm after being contacted about a disagreement between two people at the meeting, with five police cars attending the incident.

It is believed the argument was started over the membership of the chairman of the branch Rod Eaton, who some members claimed was not eligible to stand as he lives in Melksham.

However, Mr Eaton said that he is a paid up member of the party. He suggested that the disruption was caused by a group of unsatisfied members, who started shouting.

Mr Eaton told the Wiltshire Times: “There were only six people involved out of the 30 at the meeting.

“I decided to adjourn the meeting and called the police when the trouble started to break out. The police were absolutely marvellous and after the group left we were able to restart the meeting.”

Mr Eaton added that the group were the same ones involved in what he called a ‘smear campaign’ against Matthew Brown, the UKIP candidate for South West Wiltshire, in the lead up to the election.

A recording was given to police before the election on Mr Brown making remarks about Muslims, with UKIP supporters Steve and Kate Burton claiming it was ‘enticement to hatred’.

Mr Burton was not at the meeting, but his daughter Jacqueline was and he said the people who raised the issue of Mr Eaton’s membership were fully entitled to do so.

He said: “We have been trying to get the committee to change how they do things. There were five people thrown out, but they were just making sure the UKIP rules of procedure are followed.”