RIBBLE Valley MP Nigel Evans has defended the Tory party over its handling of the revelation that a man with links to the BNP held a senior position in Iain Duncan Smith's leadership campaign.

Mr Evans, vice-chairman of the party and president of the campaign in Wales, said it was embarrassing that a man with Edgar Griffin's connections should be able to join the party and then get in a position of some influence.

But he said the important thing was the way the party had dealt with the situation once it was made aware of it.

" I am pleased that Mr Griffin has now been expelled," said Mr Evans. "We will have no truck with people like that in the Tory party, as shown by the speedy and decisive action taken."

Mr Griffin's name appeared on a list of campaign staff on Mr Evans' headed notepaper but the MP said he had not seen the list of names until last week, had never met Mr Griffin and had no idea who the man was.

Conservative party members were today braced for more in-fighting between the two leadership hopefuls following the expulsion of the campaign aide over his links with the BNP.

The disclosure that BNP chairman Nick Griffin's father was a senior member of the Duncan Smith camp led to the biggest bloodletting of the campaign so far.

Mr Duncan Smith accused rival Kenneth Clarke of orchestrating a smear campaign while the former Chancellor in turn urged his opponent to check if there were more people like Edgar Griffin on his team.

But the shadow defence secretary's supporters moved quickly to dismiss suggestions that there were many more Conservative Party members with links to the BNP.

Edgar Griffin was immediately sacked from Mr Duncan Smith's team when it emerged that he is the father of the BNP chairman and after he answered the far-right party's "hotline".

The 79-year-old's wife Jean also stood as a BNP candidate against Mr Duncan Smith in his Chingford and Woodford Green constituency at the last election.