STAFF at Nelson and Colne College have hit out at racists who put up inflammatory posters in Pendle.

They collected a 70-name petition attacking the British National Party (BNP) after posters referring to 'ethnic cleansing' in Nelson were put up in Nelson and Colne.

Staff at the college, which has a large number of Asian students, condemned the posters as an attempt by racists to divide the local community.

The petition, which was supported by college principal Kath Belton, members of senior management and teaching and support staff, was organised by the lecturers' union Natfhe.

A Natfhe spokesman said: "We have a lot of students from the ethnic minorities and we felt we had to tackle this issue. We didn't have time to get round all the staff here because we wanted to respond quickly, but people were only too happy to sign the statement.

"They can see that racism does great damage and must be challenged." The statement said: "We condemn those responsible for putting up racist posters in Pendle. Following the fly-posting by the racist BNP in the European elections, the recent spate of posters talking about ethnic cleansing is disgusting and obviously aimed at dividing the communities."

It went on to say the college was multi-ethnic and welcomed students of all backgrounds. "We hope that as well as getting knowledge and skills, they develop the ability, if they don't have it already, to live alongside one another and respect cultural differences, an ability obviously lacking in the sad individuals who would like to set us against each other."

The posters were falsely attributed to former Liberal Democrat councillor Tony Greaves. Mr Greaves angrily denied any involvement and has made a formal complaint to the police about them.

Mr Greaves has long campaigned against racism and was involved in pulling down BNP posters which he considered racist, during the European election campaign.

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