Nigel Farage fears he has been the victim of an assassination attempt after his car was sabotaged, causing a terrifying motorway crash.

The Ukip leader careered off a French road after a wheel on his Volvo came loose while he was driving from Brussels back to his home in Kent.

When the police arrived at the scene, they told him that the nuts on all of the wheels had been deliberately unscrewed, The Mail on Sunday has established.

Mr Farage, who has received death threats during his tumultuous time as leader, last night spoke about the ‘frightening’ incident, which took place near Dunkirk.

‘It was the middle of bloody nowhere, and I was caught in a very bad position,’ he said. ‘There was a huge section of roadworks with cars going back and forth on the same side of the carriageway. I suddenly realised I was losing steering but there was no hard shoulder to pull on to. I slowed down, put the hazards on and then one of the wheels came off. I jumped over the wall as quickly as I bloody well could to get away from lorries and everything.’

When the emergency services arrived, they told a shaken Mr Farage that he had been the victim of a malicious act. ‘The French police looked at it and said that sometimes nuts on one wheel can come a bit loose – but not on all four,’ Mr Farage said.

When he was asked who he thought might have been responsible, Mr Farage replied: ‘I haven’t got a clue. Quite frankly, the way my life’s been over the past two-and-a-half years, nothing surprises me.’