LONGLEAT has responded to claims that a member of staff was "authorised" to pay for votes to keep Viscountess Emma Weymouth in Strictly Come Dancing.

Earlier today it emerged that a member of staff from Longleat posted in a closed Facebook group that any votes for Lady Emma would be paid for by the company in the hope of keeping her in the competition.

However Longleat have now confirmed this was not the case.

A spokesman from Longleat said: "It was not Longleat’s policy or practice to reimburse people for votes.

"The message was only sent to 109 people. As soon as Longleat found out about the message it was removed.

"No one ever sought payment from Longleat or any Longleat team member, so no one acted on the message and it had no effect on the actual votes."

The BBC have also responded to the post by saying they "take fairness extremely seriously" and "this has had no impact on the public vote."

Emma and Aljaž will be performing the Charleston on tonight's Halloween themed show.