The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has expelled its regional leader in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein following a row over links to a group associated with Holocaust denial.

Doris von Sayn-Wittgenstein was kicked out after a national party tribunal found her guilty of “behaviour damaging to the party.”

The 64-year-old is accused of supporting Verein Gedaechtnisstaette (“Memorial Site”), a group described by German intelligence officials as “extremist” and co-founded by convicted Holocaust denier Ursula Haverbeck-Wetzel.

Verein Gedaechtnisstaette was founded by Haverbeck-Wetzel in 1992. The 90-year-old is currently serving a two-year jail sentence for Holocaust denial.

Ms Sayn-Wittgenstein denies being a member of the group but previously encouraged support for them and is accused of having links within the right-wing extremist scene.

In response to the ruling, Ms von Sayn-Wittgenstein has said she will be taking legal action against the party.

The expulsion is the latest in a long-running dispute between Ms von Sayn-Wittgenstein and the national AfD party.

In December 2018, Ms von Sayn-Wittgenstein resigned from her role as Schleswig-Holstein party leader but won it back at a party congress in June.

The AfD was established in 2013 and has been described as nationalist, conservative and populist. It is currently the official opposition in Bundestag following the 2017 German Federal Election.

It is relatively weak in Schleswig-Holstein, with most of its support found in the formerly communist states in the east.