Farage aims to avoid personal attacks during election

Mr Farage says the election is shaping up to the be "nastiest" ever

UKIP leader Nigel Farage has said he will "do his best" to avoid personal attacks on his opponents during the general election campaign.

He blamed the influence of American advisers for what he predicted would be the most negative contest ever.

Mr Farage laid blame for the tone of the campaign on "Washington spin doctors", the Conservatives' Jim Messina and Labour's David Axelrod.

The UKIP leader once called Ed Miliband an "anorak-wearing nerd".

Mr Farage has also in the past personally targeted EU officials, accusing former European Council president Herman van Rompuy in 2010 of having "all the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk".

But in his monthly LBC phone-in, Mr Farage urged the other party leaders to refrain from personal attacks between now and the 7 May poll.

"I don't agree with what most of Ed Miliband stands for but he's a perfectly decent human being," he said.

"For him to be attacked personally day after day after day - how is that taking us forward? I'm going to do my best over the next 60-odd days to rise above it."

Mr Farage suggested British politics was becoming increasingly Americanised, where so-called "attack advertising" is commonplace.

"What I'm seeing in this election is the influence of these big American advisers and it's becoming the most negative, personal and nasty campaign I've ever seen."

Mr Farage travelled to the US last week to attend a gathering of conservative politicians. He said the trip was to learn about campaigning techniques.