The leader of the UK Independence Party today claimed the prospects for the party in Sussex had "never been better".

Nigel Farage, who wants Britain to withdraw from the European Union, said the South East was "stuffed" with business people who were turning against the EU.

Mr Farage, who represents Sussex as a Euro MP for South East England, said voters understood that, when it came to the policies of the main parties on the big issues, "you can't put a cigarette paper between them".

Currently 75 per cent of Britain's laws now came from Brussels, he said.

So voting for David Cameron's Conservative Party was pointless unless the UK seized back its policy-making powers from Europe.

He claimed Mr Cameron "dare not discuss Europe too much" for fear of exposing the "huge fault line" between Tory MPs and anti-EU members on the issue.

He told journalists at a Westminster lunch: "There's no point in having Cameron as Prime Minister if we haven't got our own trade policy."

At May's council elections UKIP planned to put up 250 candidates across the South East - "more than ever before" - including 70 in Sussex.

There were now 60 UKIP branches in the South East and membership, which dipped following the departure of former TV presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk in 2005, was "steadily increasing".

UKIP's aim for the European elections in 2009 was to secure "more votes than any other UK political party".

Mr Farage insisted UKIP was not just a "single issue" party. It also believed in "proper border controls", reducing the tax burden and opening more grammar schools.

But he admitted his party's approach had in the past been "totally amateurish".