US REPUBLICAN bigwigs are prepared to split the party in order to stop Donald Trump becoming president, a leading member based in Britain said yesterday.

Republicans Overseas vice-chairwoman Jan Halper-Hayes has revealed details of plans being made by senior members of the party to run an alternative candidate if Mr Trump wins the Republican nomination.

The bigoted billionaire is leading the race with 736 of the 1,237 nominations needed to seal his place on the ballot paper at the Republican convention in July.

But Ms Halper-Hayes predicted the Republican Party “might split off” because leaders are “very, very upset” about the prospect of Mr Trump becoming its candidate.

“That there could be another political party coming up is a very, very real possibility,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Pienaar’s Politics.

“There are already plans in the works as a back-up if Trump gets it.

“People who are part of the Republican national committee, some of the standing members, have started to discuss the issue.”

Her comments come after a week in which Mr Trump said women who have abortions should be punished and refused to rule out the prospect of using nuclear weapons against Europe.

Eric Lee, spokesman for Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders’s campaign in Britain, told the Star: “The Republican Party appears to be heading for an electoral catastrophe, and that’s the good news.

“Neither of the main Republican candidates, neither Trump nor [Ted] Cruz, would be anything other than disasters for America as president.

“Of the two Democratic candidates, only one — Bernie Sanders — easily beats both Cruz and Trump, according to polls.”