A cafe owner resorted to putting a sign in his window warning people not to be xenophobic as the Ukip bandwagon rolled into town.

Bruno Breillet, who runs Bruno's Bakes and Coffee in Rochester, stuck a sign up warning: "This shop is owned by two immigrants. Leave your bigotry at the door before you come in".

The move coincided with the arrival of the anti-EU party's three most influential people, including leader Nigel Farage.

He was on the campaign trail with former Conservative Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless who sparked a by-election when he defected to Ukip, and Douglas Carswell who became the party's first MP last week.

The trio drew a huge crowd of supporters who travelled to Rochester from across the country and beyond.

But Bruno, 48, who set up the High Street business a year and a half ago, said he was moved to take action after experiencing "unpleasantness" from certain visitors.

He said: "We've taken the sign down now as everything has calmed down but it was actually quite nasty on Saturday.

"There seemed to be a lot of the wrong crowd in town and people seemed to be at each other's throats. Even some other traders were exchanging words.

"There's still a funny atmosphere but it's a lot more pleasant now than it was at the weekend. We didn't want anything to do with it, which is why we put up the sign."