Ukip has hit back at claims leader Nigel Farage has conceded defeat in trying to win the Folkestone and Hythe seat in the general election.

The Daily Mail claims Mr Farage has abandoned hopes of winning dozens of seats and the party is now targeting just 10 - including two in Kent.

But the party denied it has given up on the seat despite a Ukip campaign source supposedly telling the Mail it was adopting a 'shotgun' approach with less targets.

South Thanet - where Mr Farage is standing - and Rochester and Strood, which was taken by Conservative defector Mark Reckless in a by-election last year, are the only Kent seats remaining on Ukip's target list, the Mail claims.

Folkestone and Hythe is one of the casualties after a scandal involving the party's original candidate and MEP Janice Atkinson forced Mr Farage to expel her from the party.

The scandal involving Ms Atkinson related to an expenses claim during the party's conference in Margate earlier this year.

She was expelled from the party after a disciplinary hearing.

Ms Atkinson was replaced with Labour defector and ex-Labour group leader on Ashford Borough Council, Harriet Yeo.

Mrs Yeo told KentOnline when she was announced as the new candidate that she remained confident the party could still take the seat from Conservative candidate Damian Collins.

It comes on the day Mr Farage reveals the party's election manifesto in Thurrock in Essex - which also remains on the list of target seats according to the Mail.

A party strategist is quoted as saying "something extraordinary" needs to happen for Ukip to win in seats outside of its target 10.

The move is being put down to a slide in the polls to as the party concentrates its resources on fewer constituencies.

Folkestone and Hythe was on an original list of target seats it believed it could win to add to the two MPs - Douglas Carswell in Clacton and Mr Reckless in Rochester and Strood - it won in two by-elections in the last parliament.

On Sunday, the window of Ukip's office in Folkestone town centre was damaged and a campaign poster featuring Mr Farage was targeted with graffiti and a 'Hitler moustache'.