Vladimir Putin told to keep out of Stoke by election after pro-Russia Twitter accounts target Ukip and Paul Nuttall

Vladimir Putin has been told by the UK Independence Party to keep out of the Stoke by-election after usually pro-Russian Twitter accounts started to target the party and its leader Paul Nuttall.

The Russian President - who has been accused by the White House of trying to influence the US Presidential elections - was given the warning after dozens of Twitter accounts, which are usually the source of pro-Russian messages, started publishing critical tweets about Ukip ahead of tomorrow’s Stoke on Trent Central by-election.

The BBC reported how the Twitter accounts were publishing Russian propaganda until a few days ago and now had switched to pro-Labour – and pro-Jeremy Corbyn - and anti-Ukip comments.

Although a traditional Labour safe seat, Stoke-on-Trent voted 65 per cent in favour of leaving the EU in last year’s referendum, making the constituency – which was vacated by Labour MP Tristram Hunt – a marginal.

A Ukip spokesman brushed off fears of Russian attempts to influence the Stoke on Trent by-election and stop locals voting for Mr Nuttall.

He said: “I don’t think people take a blind bit of notice. I don’t think the good people of Stoke are now avidly watching Russian automated Twitter bots. Bot out Putin!

“We are not Trump, we are not Clinton. The idea that Putin gives a flying rat’s a**e about Paul Nuttall winning in Stoke – I just don’t see it.”

Labour did not comment following a request from the Telegraph. There is no suggestion that the Twitter accounts are linked to any political party.

The network was uncovered by Alex King, an independent researcher who tracks Russian propaganda on social media.

Mr King found patterns that suggested the accounts were part of a co-ordinated campaign rather than driven by individual users, according to a report by the BBC.

Some of the accounts used stock pictures as profile images with similar hashtags and messages. 

One Tweet attacked Mr Nuttall after he had to apologise for wrongly stating that he had “close friends” who died in the Hillsborough football tragedy in 1989.

Another account posted a message saying “Ukip support just 12% nationally”, adding the hashtags #stokebyelection #StokeCentral #Copelandbyelection #Stoke #jeremycorbyn #labour4stoke #labour4copeland.” 

The news emerged after Mr Nuttall gave a witness statement to the criminal investigation into the Hillsborough disaster. 

Mr Nuttall had faced a fierce backlash and calls to resign as an MEP after it emerged claims on his website that he lost close personal friends at Hillsborough were false. 

During a radio hustings with other candidates, the party leader insisted he had apologised to the "people that matter". 

He told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Breakfast he spent "three hours” on Monday morning “giving a witness statement” to police.

In the same hustings Gareth Snell, Labour's candidate in the by-election, apologised to his wife, daughter and Grandmother for describing high-profile women as "squabbling sour-faced ladies" and "polished t**ds".

In unguarded comments on Twitter from several years ago, Mr Snell called panellists on ITV’s Loose Women “squabbling sour-faced ladies”, described Janet Street-Porter as a “polished t**d” and said a “speccy blonde girl” on BBC’s The Apprentice series should “p**s off”.

After Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, appeared on BBC’s Question Time, Mr Snell also tweeted: “Diane, you are great, then you say something incredibly a**ingly stupid.”

Mr Snell struck a more conciliatory tone at the hustings, saying: “I’ll take the opportunity to apologise again for the things that I said previously.

"I have apologised to my wife and my grandmother and my daughter because those aren’t words I would like them to have to face. So if I can take the opportunity to apologise, I will do."

Mr Snell also said he was sorry for the "fruity" language he used in a Tweet describing Brexit as "a massive pile of s**t".