A Ukip chairman has declared that Ilford has been ethnically cleansed and that he is worried about the “almost absence of white faces”.

Jeremy Zeid, who describes himself on his Twitter account as the chairman of the party in Harrow, tweeted Ilford South MP Mike Gapes today with his views.

He was responding to a tweet Mr Gapes posted in April, calling Ukip posters “racist”.

Mr Zeid wrote: “Having just been to Gerard Batten’s [Ukip European MEP] office in Ilford, the almost absence of white faces in Ilford is worrying.”

He added: “@MikeGapes is so busy being “right on” he is either blind to or deliberately complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Ilford.”

Mr Gapes, who tweeted to his followers calling Mr Zeid’s views “racist,” told the Recorder: “I was shocked when I saw them [tweets] obviously.

“Nigel Farage claims Ukip are not racist and then this person comes to Ilford and says there are not enough white faces.

“If that is not racist what is? I am proud to say Ilford rejected Ukip [in local elections].”

Mr Zeid, who was inundated with tweets after his comments, stood for election in Harrow last week but was not elected.

Mr Gapes added: “I am proud to represent a borough that has people of all faiths and classes and backgrounds living together and working together.

“I don’t want Ukip’s poisonous, racist remarks in my borough.”

Mr Zeid is not the first Ukip member to make comments about Ilford. In March, activist Sean Howlett, 21, allegedly claimed residents’ accents cannot be understood.

The Recorder has asked Ukip Redbridge and Waltham Forest for a comment.

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