A UKIP parliamentary candidate has rejected suggestions that the party had "any privileges whatsoever" when the BBC's Question Time programme came to Middlesbrough last week.

Rival politicians have questioned why three Teesside Ukip parliamentary candidates were in the audience when it was recorded on Thursday, November 6. They were given the opportunity to ask three questions between them.

As previously reported in The Northern Echo, the BBC has rejected suggestions that Ukip was invited to send members to sit in the audience.

Now, Ted Strike, UKIP's parliamentary candidate for Stockton South, has said he simply applied to be a member of the audience like everyone else.

He accepted he did use the word, 'invited' online, but said that was simply a clumsy use of words.

Mr Strike took two opportunities to speak on the programme, the first when he had his hand up and was selected by TV host David Dimbleby and the second when he was wrongly challenged for heckling.

"I wasn't going to lose the opportunity to make my point," he said.

"In fact I was heckled and I got the impression the audience was generally to the left of Ukip. There's no privileges for anyone, I don't have any complaint. There's nothing unfair."