A BURNLEY British National Party councillor has been found guilty of racially abusing a group of Asian men on a night out.

Brian Turner, ward councillor for Cliviger with Worthorne, was yesterday convicted of a racially aggravated public order offence after an incident outside the Orange House pub, Hammerton Street, Burnley.

Turner, who was elected a councillor in May 2003, was warned by magistrates that he faced jail.

But, speaking after the case, Turner, 43, continued to protest his innocence, saying: "I will be carrying on as a councillor. I have been found guilty for something I have not done."

Burnley magistrates were told that shortly after 2am on November 20 last year, Turner and two friends were asked to step back while police officers dealt with a number of fights in the area.

Both the officers said they had to warn Turner after they heard him shout BNP, the court heard.

Then, as PCs John McNamara and Azhar Khan were escorting four Asian men they told the court they heard Turner shout a racist comment at the group, telling them to get back "to their own country".

PC McNamara said: "The comment he made was quite nasty and it could have conceivably made things worse. It was a racist comment."

Chair of the bench Linda Thormber adjourned the case for sentencing.

She said: "The motivation was racial.

"At the time there was fighting on the streets and it was a volatile situation.

"You knew the outcome could have inflamed the situation."

But Turner, a self-employed painter and decorator of Athletic Street, admitted the PCs did tell him to get on the pavement, but he denied making the comment.

He said: "There was all sorts of shouting going on it was mayhem.

"I would not shout a comment like that. It would have been an offensive thing to say if someone did say it."

Last September he was ordered to do 100 hours community service for assaulting his wife and a policeman following a disturbance at his home.