FORMER Castle Point MP Bob Spink and Ukip campaigner James Parkin have been charged with electoral fraud.

The charges relate to nomination papers for prospective UKIP council candidates.

Essex Police has charged Parkin, 38, a Canvey businessman with nine counts of submitting false signatures on nomination papers on or before April 5, 2016.

Four of the charges are specifically related to false signatures while the remaining five relate to instances of obtaining genuine signatures by misleading electors about what they were signing for.

Bob Spink, 68, has been charged with five counts of submitting false signatures on nomination papers on or before April 5, 2016.

Mr Spink, who served as Castle Point MP for nearly nine years, also unsuccessfully stood for Ukip as Essex Police and Crime Commissioner.

They will appear at Ipswich Magistrates Court on April 25 2017