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Paul Nuttall's website has been taken offline after it claimed wrongly that he lost "close personal friends" at Hillsborough.

The UKIP leader was forced to admit during a radio interview that the claim, carried on his website in quotes dating to 2011, was wrong.

He later , saying he had not written the post nor seen it before it was put up by a member of staff. An aide took the blame for the post.

On Thursday a message on paulnuttallmep.com said the site was offline for "scheduled maintenance".

But the controversy rages on, just a week before Mr Nuttall contests a high-profile parliamentary by-election.

Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson, speaking to The Guardian, has called on the UKIP leader to "explain himself to the people of Liverpool".

And Tim Farron, the Liberal Democrat leader, told the Daily Mirror that Mr Nuttall was a "disgrace" and a "coward" for letting an aide take the blame.

Mr Nuttall was 12 at the time of the 1989 disaster, in which 96 Liverpool fans were killed during an FA Cup semi-final.

The MEP has said he was at the match with his father and two uncles.

"From the upper tier of the Leppings Lane End of the Hillsborough stadium I watched the events of that day unfold with horror," Mr Nuttall said in his statement.

"Like everybody connected to the Hillsborough disaster, memories of 15 April 1989 bring me nothing but pain and upset."

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But families of Hillsborough victims have voiced anger at Mr Nuttall's wrong claim that he lost friends.

Margaret Aspinall, whose son James died at Hillsborough, told Sky News that "it's appalling he has made such a suggestion. A lot of survivors are still suffering".

During the radio interview with Radio City News, he was forced to admit: "I haven't lost a close personal friend. I've lost someone I know."

Later UKIP press officer Lynda Roughley said she was "entirely responsible" for the website post and had offered her resignation. However, the resignation has been rejected.