Britain opens probe on UKIP party funding

London : Britain's Electoral Commission opened an investigation on Tuesday into whether the UK Independence Party (UKIP) used EU money for its Brexit campaign in breach of party fundingrules.

The probe follows a European Parliament audit on Monday which said UKIP will have to renounce hundreds of thousands of euros (dollars) of EU funding after misspending part of the grants oncampaigning in Britain.

"The commission has now opened its own investigation into UKIP to look at whether there has been any breach of UK election law," the Electoral Commission said in a statement.

"This includes whether any impermissible donations have been accepted by the party," it said.

The European Parliament audit on Monday found that a number of invoices from the European political party Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe (ADDE) to which UKIP belongs "were not in line with the rules governing grants to parties and foundations."

"The ADDE will now not receive the remaining 20 percent of the grant (248,345 euros) allocated for 2015 and will need to reimburse a sum of 172,654 euros from the 80 percent of the grant which was advanced to the party," it said.

The breaches related to nine opinion polls held in Britain ahead of the 2015 general election -- including on anti-EU sentiment -- as well as ahead of the EU membership referendum in June.

While Britain's vote to leave the EU was a triumph for UKIP and its co-founder Nigel Farage, who stepped down from the leadership following the referendum, the party has since struggled to capitalise on the vote and has been beset with infighting.