Just days before Nigel Farage takes on Count Binface in the Clacton by-election, a pilot traced the shape of a bin with their flightpath near the coastal town.

According to flight tracking data from Flightradar24, the light aircraft took off from Earls Colne airfield in Essex at 2.48pm on Saturday and landed at 4.13pm, having spent around half an hour above the sea off Clacton, zig-zagging to create a flightpath in the shape of a bin.

The plane is in private ownership according to Flightradar24 and it is not known who flew it during the stunt.

Voters will go to the polls in Clacton on Thursday in a by-election triggered by the resignation Reform UK leader Mr Farage.

Mr Farage is being investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner Daniel Greenberg over a £5m gift from cryptocurrency tycoon Christopher Harborne, which he received before taking his seat in the Commons.

The investigation, looking at whether he should have declared the money when he arrived in parliament, was suspended on his resignation, but is likely to resume if he wins the by-election.

If he is found to have broken the rules and a suspension of more than 10 days is imposed, it could trigger a recall petition and the prospect of Mr Farage losing his seat, forcing a second contest.

Mr Farage previously said he has “not broken the law in any way at all” and warned the standards probe was “now being used as a political tool”.

The Reform leader had envisioned the contest as a "people versus the establishment" showdown, but he now finds himself up against a varied group, including three candidates from the Official Monster Raving Loony Party and numerous independents.

All the main Westminster parties are boycotting the by-election and many have dismissed it as a “stunt”.

Yvette Cooper called the move by Mr Farage a “political tantrum” and others said it was a “distraction” from allegations made about his financial affairs.

And polls reveal that one in five people in Clacton would rather vote for Count Binface than Mr Farage.

A survey by Survation for Mandate Research of voters in Clacton suggests Mr Farage would win 73 per cent of the vote , while his main rival, the satirical sci-fi character who is a by-election veteran, could sweep up an estimated 20 per cent of the vote.

In an Ipsos poll asking the general public who they would vote for in a hypothetical head-to-head, a third (33 per cent) of British adults said they would prefer Count Binface to win the race, while only 21 per cent back the Reform UK leader.

Meanwhile, the poll found 32 per cent wouldn’t want either of them to win and 13 per cent didn’t know who they would chose.

The lengthy ballot paper is filled with numerous fringe candidates alongside Count Binface, including actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox - who could take 2 per cent of the votes according to a poll by Survation for Mandate Research.