Reform UK metro mayor candidate Arron Banks would sack all 400 officers at the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) who are “just shuffling paper around” and close the “swanky” headquarters.

But party leader Nigel Farage said in an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service moments later that, while they were committed to cutting the size and expense of local government, the pledge to fire everyone on day one should be taken with a “pinch of salt”.

Addressing Reform supporters at a rally at his country park Old Down Estate in Tockington, near Thornbury, on Tuesday, April 29, Mr Banks said that if any of the other parties’ candidates won the election this Thursday (May 1), the region’s residents would get the same as the last 10 years.

He said: “It’s a mess, complete and utter.

“I started my business in Thornbury High Street above the bakery at Asda.

“There was a desk and two telephones, and some years later I floated it on the stock market for £158million.

“So, unlike the other candidates in the race, I know how to get stuff done.

“More importantly, I’m not scared to knock heads together.

“I’ve said in my literature that the first thing I’m going to do is shut down the swanky offices in Bristol, sack the 400 people who are just shuffling paper around doing nothing, and have a focused team of people who are going to work on big infrastructure projects, bringing investment and innovation into the area.

“We’re going to turn this thing around, and we won’t do it by hiring more civil servants.”

Asked afterwards whether the commitment to gut Weca – comprising Bristol, South Gloucestershire and Bath & North East Somerset councils – could deter some voters because the combined authority might no longer be able to operate, Clacton MP Mr Farage said: “Of course you need an administrative office of some kind.

“Maybe you take [Mr Banks’ comments] with a slight pinch of salt but you see the intent.

“So some of the questions he’s raised in this campaign are very valid.

“You may agree with him, you may disagree with him, you may like him, you may not like him, he’s an extremely competent guy.”

Mr Banks’ campaign leaflet includes a pledge to close the metro mayor’s office and the “fancy building” in Redcliff Street, and create a small, focused team working on residents’ priorities.

During his speech, Mr Banks said voting for Reform was the only way to avoid getting a “radical Marxist liberal who’s going to continue the war on motorists”.

He said: “I think to myself, how did I create a business from a desk and two telephones?

“We injected energy, passion, decision-making, we got on and got stuff done.”

The candidates are: