Farage and Tice sue NCA over alleged leaks of financial information

Richard Tice has said he and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage are suing the National Crime Agency (NCA) over the alleged leaking of confidential financial information.

The Boston and Skegness MP and Reform deputy leader told Talk TV they believed the NCA had committed "multiple criminal offences" and said they would be seeking an apology and damages.

He accused them of leaking "individual bank statements, bank transfers, details of conversations with bank managers from different banks".

Last month Tice wrote to the agency to ask if they would investigate whether they were responsible for the leaking of private financial information to the media.

It followed reports that payments made to his company Britain Means Business by the mother of the convicted fraudster George Cottrell were flagged to the NCA as part of its suspicious activity reports (SARs) programme, which alerts law enforcement to potential instances of money laundering.

Tice said at the time he only became aware of it when contacted by the Guardian newspaper, which broke the story.

The NCA has been carrying out an internal investigation but Tice told Talk TV it was "playing for time and we've said we're done with it".

A Reform UK spokesperson said claims had been filed at the High Court. BBC News has not seen the detail of the claims.