Nigel Farage assassination plot? Ukip leader says his Volvo's wheels were sabotaged

Nigel Farage believes he was the victim of a attempted assassination plot after French police told him the wheel nuts on his Volvo were deliberately unscrewed before he careered off a road near Dunkirk. The Ukip leader was driving to his home in Kent in October 2015, when he came off the road and crashed.

Police officers investigated the incident and told Farage that bolts on all four wheels of the V70 model car had been tampered with. He has spoken about the incident now after being contacted by the Mail on Sunday.

He told the newspaper he realised he was losing steering before one of the wheels came off. "The French police looked at it and said that sometimes nuts on one wheel can come a bit loose – but not on all four," Farage said. "The French police and mechanics looked at it but I have made no formal report in this country. The mechanics were absolutely certain of [foul play] but I have decided to take no further action."

Bad nuts

Farage said he was clueless as to why he might have been targeted, adding "Quite frankly, the way my life's been over the past two-and-a-half years, nothing surprises me."

News of Farage's crash sparked claims that the model car he was driving had a history of loose wheel nuts. A notice on on the government's Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency shows a recall on Volvo V70s after "wheel securing bolts had not not undergone the proper hardening process".

The description said: "It has been identified that the standard wheel securing bolts may not have undergone the correct hardening process. This will result in corrosion, a noise and/or vibration. If this condition is not rectified, there is a possibility that the wheel may become loose and detach."