UKIP have denied their new lion-based party logo risks breaching the copyright of other prominent symbols, including the Premier League's.

The party, who will elect a new leader later on Friday, revealed a fresh look at their annual conference in Torquay.

Members were given two options to vote on during the first day of the conference, with the party opting for a design featuring a lion together with the slogan "For The Nation".

Just got off phone with Premier League. Not confirming if they're consulting lawyers but have certainly "noted" the new UKIP logo #ukip17 pic.twitter.com/ixUG4BAfOh — Lewis Goodall (@lewis_goodall) September 29, 2017

But UKIP were immediately accused of aping other well-known logos.

Former footballer Gary Lineker suggested the Premier League "will be thrilled" with the design's apparent similarity to the logo of England's top flight.


Others suggested the new UKIP symbol mirrors the logo of Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), or even far-right group Britain First.

I knew UKIP's new logo was familiar. pic.twitter.com/Los5kNMbVJ — Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) September 29, 2017

Twitter users also had fun mocking up their own versions of the UKIP re-brand.

I like the new UKIP logo pic.twitter.com/vZT2T6mHsi — Rob Manuel (@robmanuel) September 29, 2017

The party insisted they had run legal checks to ensure their new design didn't contravene copyright laws.

Party chairman Paul Oakden, who will soon be standing down from his interim role, claimed there are "no similarities between UKIP and Britain First".

"This is the UKIP lion, it is forward-facing, it is proud, it is determined and it represents what our party are going to be as it moves into the future," he told the BBC's Daily Politics programme.

Mr Oakden suggested the Premier League's lawyers are "very welcome" to check their copyright.

The two new logo options. Conference attendees will vote now. pic.twitter.com/qaHwv7RQ3k — UKIP (@UKIP) September 29, 2017

He added: "We didn't know which of the two logos was going to be chosen this morning, but obviously we ran both through the appropriate legal checks before we put them to our membership.

"So we're perfectly comfortable with the lion we put forward and we're perfectly comfortable with the vote to adopt it by the membership.

"As far as we're concerned it is now our logo."

UKIP members have also voted for their new leader, who will be revealed to the Torquay conference on Friday afternoon.

It has been suggested a large number of UKIP's MEPs could quit the party if controversial candidate Anne Marie Waters, who has previously branded Islam "evil", wins the leadership contest.