he tie and rosette of a United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) campaigner | Carl Court/Getty UKIP group ordered to repay €172,000 to EU by December 21 Nigel Farage’s party told to repay misspent EU funds.

European Parliament leaders on Monday told the United Kingdom Independence Party and its European partners to pay back more than €172,000 in misused funds by December 21.

In a letter sent to the Alliance for Direct Democracy in Europe grouping — of which UKIP is the dominant member — Parliament leaders said €500,615 had been misspent. They said €172,655 must be paid back and a further €248,345 of EU grant money will not be handed over.

UKIP is accused of spending EU funds on national issues — for polling and analysis ahead of the 2015 general election and the Brexit vote in June this year — which is against EU rules.

A report by the Parliament's auditors was presented to senior MEPs in Strasbourg on Monday, who approved the repayment request and decided on a December 21 deadline.

"The Bureau [the European Parliament's top officials] took note of conclusions by an external auditor and Parliament’s administration, who found that a number of activities underlying the invoices submitted by the ADDE were not in line with the rules governing grants to parties and foundations," according to a press release.

"These rules forbid inter alia financing of national political parties, financing of national election campaigns and candidates or referendum campaigns."

UKIP leader Nigel Farage last week reacted angrily to accusations that the party misspent EU cash.

“We’ve been expecting this for years,” Farage told Sky News on Thursday. “I’ve understood absolutely the rules. This is pure victimization. I am the most investigated MEP in history. Look at what the pro-EU groups were spending.”