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Richard Tice defended accepting a £1million donation from the mother of convicted fraudster and Nigel Farage ally 'Posh George' that is the subject of a criminal investigation, saying it came from a 'very successful aristocratic family'.

Reform's deputy leader said Fiona Cottrell, the mother of George Cottrell, was a 'permissible donor' today amid a deepening row over the sources of the party's money.

Mrs Cottrell is said to have given the sum to Britain Means Business, described as a Reform fundraising vehicle of which Mr Tice is a director, before it moved half on to the party itself.

The transaction is among those flagged by bankers to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in suspicious activity reports, according to the Guardian.

There is also an investigation by the Metropolitan Police into £500,000 Mrs Cottrell donated directly to Reform.

But Mr Tice said they were the victims of a 'politically motivated smear' against the party, having previously accused the NCA of deliberately leaking private information.

Asked if any due diligence was done where Ms Cottrell had got the money from, he told Times Radio: 'I've known the Cottrell family, my family have known the Cottrell family and the broader Hesketh family, for 50 years.

'A very successful aristocratic family, and as far as I'm concerned, she's a permissible donor and that's the end of it.'

It comes as party leader Mr Farage prepares to fight a by-election in his Clacton seat on a 'people v the establishment ticket' after questions about his own financial situation.