The video will start in 8 Cancel

What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

UKIP has instantly been accused of ripping off the Premier League after unveiling designs for its new logo.

The anti-EU party is banishing its traditional pound sign for "not resonating with today's voters" in favour of a lion.

But the lion - which was well in the lead this morning in a vote of UKIP members at the party conference in Torquay - looks terribly, terribly familiar.

Hundreds of Twitter users have had exactly the same thought: It looks exactly like the new Premier League logo that was unveiled only 19 months ago.

Both have a purple, stylised lion facing to its left.

"The Premier League will be thrilled," former England striker Gary Lineker tweeted. The League is understood to be consulting lawyers.

(Image: Getty Images Europe)

"I wouldn't have this lads," one Twitter user told the Premier League. "They've stolen your logo!".

Others mocked what UKIP interim leader Steve Crowther called the "British lion", considering lions are quite clearly from Africa.

"Bloody Africans coming over here, putting themselves on our political logos!! Putting the english hedgehog out of work!" one Twitter user joked.

A UKIP spokesman insisted: "Our logo is not a rip-off. It is a symbol that broadly is recognised internationally as a symbol of this country."

He added: "We've checked, it doesn't infringe copyright. We're not that stupid."

Told the Premier League was consulting lawyers he said: "How very nice for them, I'm sure that will be expensive, more expensive than our logo."

On Gary Lineker's criticism he added: "Gary Lineker is a very well-known, somewhat sanctimonious, extremely well-paid TV celebrity who has his own opinions."

He joked the lion would be called Flossie.

UKIP chairman Paul Oakden told the BBC: "I’m not worried. For a start, I don’t mind UKIP being associated with the Premier League… If they [the Premier League] feel they have a right to take legal action I’m sure they’ll consult with their lawyers.

“We did our due diligence before we put these logos to the membership and as I said, we are perfectly comfortable”.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

An alternative option of a sail didn't escape criticism either, despite Mr Crowther claiming it showed a "modern and dynamic" UKIP "with the trade winds in its sails".

Twitter users compared it to a road to nowhere, perhaps a metaphor for UKIP's future.

Here's the logo

People are already mocking it on social media

And they're not very impressed with the lion's facial expression

Members were given red tokens at UKIP's conference in Torquay to vote for their favourite of the two options and had to put them in a bucket.

When the Mirror walked up and shook the two buckets the lion looked to be the easy winner. In the end it won by 435 votes to 81.

The 'sail' bucket had so few tokens in it that it barely rattled at all.

Although the lion earned a cheer in the hall UKIP members were furious.

One told the Mirror: "They took all this time to come up with a logo like THAT? Good lord."

(Image: Daily Record)

Scottish MEP David Coburn told MailOnline: "We should't change our logo. It's a load of PR twaddle - it'll cost millions and we don't have the money.

"An interim leader shouldn't be doing this - they are only an interim leader. It could cost millions and we don't have it.

"It's a load of waffle. We should keep the pound logo - why give away the most valuable thing we have - our logo."

(Image: AFP)

New leader Henry Bolton admitted: "You're going to be terribly disappointed with this. I have no idea what the moment what the Premier League's logo looks like.

"I will have a look at that. Another conversation that I might have to have.

"I'm personally fine with it. I want a united party and I want that party to have a clear identity. Members this afternoon at conference voted quite decisively that they liked the logo and I think that's the start point for me as their leader."