Kay Burley has been engaged in a war of words with Ukip after interviewing a Tory MP about burkas.

The Sky News presenter grilled Andrew Bridgen on Tuesday over his claim that women wearing the conservative Muslim clothing make him feel “uncomfortable”, as he has difficulty reading their facial expressions.

He argued it was the same as not being allowed into a bank wearing a crash helmet, which is a security issue.

Burley said: “What on earth has that got to do with suggesting that women in a burKa look like bank robbers?”

Bridgen replied: “Well there’s… there’s millions of years of human evolution that [mean] we look for affirmation of our own words and actions in the faces of others and when people can’t see someone’s face it makes them feel uncomfortable because they don’t get that behavioural feedback.

“And it makes me uncomfortable but it doesn’t make me feel any more uncomfortable than trying to have a conversation with someone wearing crash helmet with the visor down, that makes me feel uncomfortable as well – that’s just perfectly natural.”

Burley then asked Bridgen if he felt uncomfortable speaking to Simon Weston, the Falklands veteran who was facially disfigured by horrific burns – a comparison that prompted Ukip’s official Twitter account to brand her “crass and idiotic”.

Burley took the criticism in her stride, declaring “my work here is done”.

This prompted Ukip to ask how they could expect “impartial or even reasonable” coverage from her in the future, to which Burley responded by alleging a “senior” Ukip representative had called her a “fucking cunt on the radio”.

The full conversation between Burley and Bridgen can be read below…