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Someone might have actually tried to kill Nigel Farage - after a piece of evidence "disproving" the plot turned out to be a red herring.

The Ukip leader cried foul play over a French motorway crash which saw all four nuts come loose on a wheel of his Volvo V70.

Within hours doubtful pundits discovered there had been a fault with V70s - which could make their wheels fall off.

A recall notice issued for 186 cars in 2010 warned the "wheel securing bolts may not have undergone the correct hardening process".

LBC radio host James O'Brien tweeted: "Wheel fallen off your Volvo V70? Do you Google 'Volvo V70 wheel nuts recall' or allege an assassination attempt?" Blogger Tim Fenton added: "IT WAS HIS OWN FAULT".

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But Volvo has now responded to the widespread suspicion - and said the Ukip leader's car was not recalled after all.

Mirror Online provided Volvo with Mr Farage's numberplate, which was visible in original photos of him with the car.

A Volvo spokesman later said: "I can confirm that Mr Farage’s car was not part of that recall, so no such work was required."

The Ukip leader, 51, had revealed how he careered off a motorway last October while he was driving from Brussels to his Kent home.

The MEP told The Mail on Sunday : "The French police looked at it and said that sometimes nuts on one wheel can come a bit loose – but not on all four."

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(Image: Reuters)

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."

He did not make a formal complaint over the incident, which happened in "the middle of bloody nowhere".