LBC star James O'Brien gloats 'we've got our station back' after Nigel Farage 'quits station in contract row leaving them with just hours to fill his evening radio slot'

Nigel Farage has quit his LBC show 'with immediate effect' following talks with station executives, the broadcaster announced this afternoon.  

The arch-Brexiteer is refusing to see out the remainder of his time with the station after being informed his popular evening show was to be wound down.

Bosses were understood to be caught flat-footed by his sudden departure and left scrambling to find a replacement for tonight's show.

His usual 6-7pm show this evening has been merged into Iain Dale's regular slot, which has been extended by an hour to become a four-hour show. 

Mr Farage denied claims he stepped down from the station following a furious row with bosses, and told MailOnline he will not be commenting any further at this time. 

The arch-Brexiteer leaves the broadcaster two days after he likened Black Lives Matter protesters to the Taliban during a fiery television debate. 

LBC downplayed the departure and insisted Mr Farage's current contract was ending, but his own producer Christian Mitchell suggested he had been blindsided, tweeting: 'Hearing this on social media...'    

The station this afternoon tweeted: 'Nigel Farage's contract with LBC is up very shortly and, following discussions with him, Nigel is stepping down from LBC with immediate effect. 

'We thank Nigel for the enormous contribution he has made to LBC and wish him well.'

Yet fellow LBC presenter James O'Brien, a vehement critic of both Brexit and Mr Farage, gleefully tweeted: 'We got our station back'.    

The pair tangled in a spectacular on-air bust-up in 2014 during an interview which centred on alleged racism in Ukip. 

Mr O'Brien further rubbed salt in the wounds by tweeting a link to the interview and sarcastically writing 'thoughts and prayers'.

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Nigel Farage is quitting his LBC show 'with immediate effect', the radio broadcaster announced this afternoon

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The hardline Eurosceptic, who was today pictured with his new Labrador puppy Baxter in Kent, has been a vocal critic of removing controversial statues following the recent Black Lives Matter protests

LBC revealed Mr Farage's departure in a tweet and wished him well. But Mr Farage's producer Christian Mitchell suggested he had been blindsided by the sudden departure, tweeting: 'Hearing this on social media...'

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Fellow LBC presenter James O'Brien, a vehement critic of both Brexit and Mr Farage, gleefully tweeted: 'We got our station back'

As Black Lives Matter activists celebrated the scalp of one of their fiercest critics:

• Home Secretary Priti Patel admonished Labour MPs who told her not to talk about her own experience with racism because it 'gaslights' Black Lives Matter protesters;  
• Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole abandoned bids to remove a statue of Scouts founder Robert Baden-Powell after defenders formed a protective ring around the monument;
• 'Racist' road names and controversial gravestones were covered-up while plaques are torn down in latest responses to BLM protests;
• Labour peer Baroness Amos, who will be the first black head of an Oxford College demanded the statue of 'white supremacist' Cecil Rhodes is removed;
• The Mayor of Middlesbrough defended Captain James Cook as a 'genuine working class hero'. 

Taking to the airwaves an hour earlier today, Iain Dale read out LBC's statement regarding Mr Farage's decision to quit, before adding: 'I know Nigel would wish me to pass on his thanks to all of his listeners’.

Mr Farage, 56, has hosted his own 6-7pm show from Mondays to Thursdays as well as a mid-morning show on Sundays since 2017.

During his spell as a presenter, he has bagged interviews with some premier league guests, including President Donald Trump, which has made his show immensely popular.  

The hardline Eurosceptic, who was today pictured with his new puppy Baxter in Kent, has been a vocal critic of removing controversial statues following the recent Black Lives Matter protests. 

On Tuesday during a fiery debate on Good Morning Britain, he scolded those who toppled slave trader Edward Colston's statue in Bristol.

Justifying his outrage, he said: 'Because they did it as a violent mob making their own decisions and what they thought was right and wrong.

'The point here is you start to unpick history you do not quite know where you are going to finish up.'

He added: 'The Taliban love to blow up and destroy historical monuments from a different time that they do not approve of.

'What we saw at the weekend was the most appalling example of mob rule.' 

In the debate, Mr Farage went head-to-head with historian Professor Kate Williams and Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who this afternoon both cheered his departure from LBC

While the Euro-sceptic think tank Bruges Group said it was a 'real shame' Mr Farage had quit his role on LBC, New European columnist Tim Walker compared Mr Farage's departure to a 'statue' being toppled

In the debate, Mr Farage went head-to-head with historian Professor Kate Williams and Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu, who this afternoon both cheered his departure from LBC. 

Prof Williams tweeted: 'On Tuesday, Nigel Farage made the disgraceful comparison of Black Lives Matter to the Taliban on GMB. 

'Horrific spreading of race hatred and inciting hate. Now, he is 'stepping down' from LBC - immediate effect. 

'This is long overdue. Race hatred must be off all the airwaves -now!'

Dr Mos-Shogbamimu wrote sarcastically: 'Nigel Farage is out of LBC? Couldn't have happened to a nicer person. We thank him for nothing.' 

Commenting on the news, acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey MP bluntly said: 'Good.'

Mr Farage last year told the European Parliament that he earned £27,000 a month through his media company - dwarfing the salary he made as an MEP.

He uses Thorn In The Side Ltd to collect his earnings, which come from his LBC show as well as regular appearances as a talking head on US TV channel Fox News.

Accounts for the year to May 2018 show that its assets exceeded £548,000, significantly up on £157,000 the year before.

He also added that he received ‘nothing’ for his role as leader of the Brexit Party, which he created in 2018 to pressure the Government into formally withdrawing from the European Union. 

For decades, Mr Farage was a fringe figure in British politics and banged the drum for Euroscepticsm through the vehicle of Ukip.

But his firebrand rhetoric and punchy debating tactics gained him a bigger following, which led Ukip to victory in the 2014 European elections.

Although shunned by the official Vote Leave campaign in the 2016 referendum, Mr Farage toured the country as part of the unofficial Grassroots Out movement.

He quit as Ukip leader following the Brexit vote and flew to America to support Donald Trump's bid for the White House.

He founded the Brexit Party in 2019, where he delivered a thumping win in the European elections, before flopping at the December general election.