UKIP voters in Tatton have said they are unhappy with the party's north west office after 'running out of time' to choose their candidate to fight George Osborne at the general election in May.

The party, led nationally by Nigel Farage, does not have a recognised constituency branch in Tatton.

Party members in Tatton have told the Guardian they have been left frustrated with the lack of action taken by the party's regional office, based in Liverpool, which has meant the branch has not been given the okay to form a committee and select its candidate for the general election.

A UKIP source told the Guardian as a result the candidate put forward by the party would be 'imposed' on them, rather than being selected by the constituency party members.

"To get the Tatton branch up and running it has to be approved by the head office," he said.

"What happens is that you need to hold a preliminary meeting in Tatton and they would ask for UKIP members to vote for a temporary committee.

"Those people would then submit their details and send declarations and the association for Tatton would be established once the bank account has been opened.

"The constituency would then be in a position to hold a hustings meeting to select a candidate. But that takes a little time and we have run out of time.

"By the time a Tatton association would be formed it would be the end of March, then we would have to hold a hustings event and by the time we have selected the election would nearly be over.

"That's why a candidate will be imposed on Tatton and not one that UKIP members in the area have chosen."

The source said he was also angry that the £750,000 allowance awarded to the party's three MEPs – Paul Nuttall, Stephen Woolfe and Louise Bours – was being spent on an expensive regional office and not helping the constituency groups.

"The MEPs have got lots of staff running around, who are all old school friends of Paul Nuttall, in an expensive office in the middle of Liverpool," he added.

"They are supposed to be using that money for running a constituency office but that is not happening.

"It is driving everyone in the constituency mad because they are all short of money and struggling to mount a proper campaign because they don't have enough cash. Then there's these guys in an expensive regional office not doing helping them out or doing anything."

The Guardian asked UKIP for a comment regarding this matter but has yet to hear back from the party.