THE leader of the British National Party in Burnley has had his town centre shop attacked by vandals.

The words "Nazi scum" were sprayed across metal shutters that protect the windows of the St James Street premises, and two upstairs windows were shot at with an air rifle.

Steven Smith said he believed the recent BNP festival in Sawley was the reason for the attack.

He said: "I personally think it has come off the back of the recent success of the Red White and Blue festival."

But he is refusing to let the incident intimidate him. He said: "I had six weeks in prison for my beliefs and that didn't deter me, so a bit of damage to my shop isn't going to deter me.

"The people that have done this are claiming that I am a fascist and that I don't believe in democracy, and yet it is those people who are trying to use intimidation and vandalism to stop free speech." A spokesman for the Anti-Nazi League said: "It isn't a tactic that the Anti-Nazi League would ever use. We would, by sheer force of numbers, demonstrate, leaflet or petition -- things that are very open and very public.

"We would never ever sanction an individual act of vandalism however much we disagree with Mr Smith's politics."

A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary's Pennine Division said: "Officers have been down and spoken to Mr Smith.

"The matter is being investigated and as party of the investigation we will be looking at CCTV camera footage."