Ukip’s Northern Ireland leader has sought to clarify his position after claiming his party would deport foreign doctors even if they were only found guilty of a parking infringement.

David McNarry, the former Stormont assembly member for Strangford - who defected from the Ulster Unionists to Ukip - was challenged on Radio Ulster on Monday morning over what he would do if a Polish surgeon was fined for overstaying in a car park.

“It’s a crime. He has broken the law,” McNarry told presenter Stephen Nolan. The Ukip spokesman said his party would deport foreigners guilty of crimes in the UK including traffic offences.

Campaigning for a no vote in June’s referendum on EU membership, McNarry said: “We need our country back. We need to be running our own affairs. We are capable of doing it.

“We have a great opportunity in Northern Ireland, a marvellous opportunity in Northern Ireland to keep going as we have been going. Let’s stand up for ourselves and give ourselves a break.”

However, later on Monday, McNarry rowed back on his remarks. He issued a statement from Ukip’s central press office to clarify his line on deporting foreigners convicted in the courts.

“This morning’s remarks were part of what I considered a silly line of questioning taking an extreme example and blowing it out of all proportion. I wanted Stephen Nolan to consider Ukip’s deportation policy seriously and not in an extreme light as he did, geared more to entertainment rather than public information.”

He said: “Let me make the position absolutely crystal clear – Ukip would not deport anyone for anything other than a serious offence followed by due process and conviction in the courts. That is our policy on deportation. Ukip have serious policies on migration and deportation.”

McNarry is a senior member of the Protestant Orange Order and was once described in a leaked Northern Ireland Office memo back in 2012 as “a dangerous nuisance”.

In the same year, McNarry left the UUP and joined Ukip, becoming the its first representative in the Stormont parliament.

The 67-year-old is leading Ukip’s campaign in the assembly elections to be held on 5 May. There are 13 Ukip candidates standing in the region but McNarry is standing down after the poll, stating that he wanted to exit politics to see his grandchildren growing up.