Reform leader Nigel Farage has milkshake thrown over him as he leaves pub in Clacton

Reform leader Nigel Farage has had a milkshake thrown at him outside a pub at his campaign launch in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex.

The incident took place outside The Moon and Starfish pub in the coastal town just hours after Mr Farage officially launched his general election campaign.

He was seen with the drink splattered over his suit as he boarded his campaign bus.

Later, Essex Police said a 23-year-old woman had been arrested on suspicion of assault.

A spokesman said: "It was reported a man had a drink thrown over him as he left a premises in the area.“A 23-year-old woman, from Clacton, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of assault.“While officers were responding and making this arrest, a second individual, a man, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker.“Both individuals remain in custody for questioning.”

Mr Farage later poked fun about the milk-based encounter posting a video of him holding a McDonald’s cup saying “my milkshake brings all the people to the rally”.

In a speech beforehand to supporters, Mr Farage said he would be a “bloody nuisance” in Westminster if elected as an MP.

In his first major public speech since announcing his candidacy he addressed a crowd of hundreds at Clacton Pier.

Addressing supporters at the rally, Mr Farage said the Tories should "pay a big price" for betraying the promises of Brexit.

The veteran Eurosceptic suggested a "chunk" of the Conservatives could join his party and compared the situation to Canadian politics, where Stephen Harper had been elected as a Reform MP but went on to head a "new Conservative" government.

Mr Farage on Monday U-turned on his previous suggestion he would not stand in this General Election, opting to fight in Clacton and being installed as Reform leader in place of Richard Tice.

Mr Farage hit out at the Tories over the handling of Brexit: "We made an offer to the British people, we could get back our independence and control of our borders.

"But what has happened? The Conservatives have betrayed that trust. They've opened up the borders to mass immigration like we've never seen before.

"And they deserve to pay a price for that, a big price for that."

He added that the General Election was already effectively over: "That breach of trust from the Conservatives means they are finished, they are done.

"We are going to get a Labour government. Whether you like it or not, we are going to get a Labour government - the question is, who is going to be the voice of opposition?"

Mr Farage had previously suggested he could be open to talks with the Tories, but suggested he could not work with them in their current form.

Instead, he told ITV's Good Morning Britain his goal was to take the Conservative Party over, rather than join it.

"You can speculate as to what'll happen in three or four years' time, all I will tell you is if Reform succeed in the way that I think they can, then a chunk of the Conservative Party will join us - it's the other way around," he said.

In 2019, the former Brexit Party leader had a banana and salted caramel milkshake thrown in his face while on an election tour in Newcastle.

The drink-thrower in that case was later convicted of common assault and ordered to pay Mr Farage his dry cleaning bill, alongside performing 150 hours of unpaid work.