Springtime for Hitler as Nazis Storm UKIP Party

The dancers, from Mel Brooks's musical The Producers, caused the scene outside UKIP's conference venue, the Winter Gardens in Margate, in south-east England. The seven-strong troupe of female dancers performed a choreographed routine as 'Springtime For Hitler' blared from a PA system on the tank turret.

The protest came on the first day of the UKIP conference, as the polls showed leader Nigel Farage on course to win a seat in the next parliament.

Research by Survation for party donor Alan Bown put Mr Farage's support in the seat he is fighting for, South Thanet, at 39%, ahead of Labour rival Will Scobie at 28% and Tory Craig Mackinlay at 27%.

Migration and EU Top UKIP Agenda

It is welcome news for UKIP after a series of surveys suggested its backing nationally had slipped and the party is hoping that the two-day gathering can restore its momentum.

Farage was in the US on Thursday to address the right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference and used his speech in a sparsely-attended hall to repeat his warning about the presence of an "enemy within" in western societies.

The UKIP leader has previously raised concerns about a "fifth column" of Islamist extremists in Europe following the Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris.

Farage and other speakers were expected to seize on net migration figures released this week that showed nearly 298,000 people came into Britain last year — almost treble David Cameron's target.

Several other speeches, including one from deputy leader Paul Nuttall, were due to focus on the party's traditional core issue of leaving the EU. Meanwhile, health spokesman Louise Bours will try to assuage concerns about party policies in her domain with a talk called 'UKIP believes in the NHS'.