THE city's Mayor says he is 'beginning to get worried' about the far-right, after a 'white genocide' poster appeared in the city.

Jabba Riaz, the Mayor of Worcester, raised his concerns after the poster was stuck up on a signboard in Hill Street last week.

Worcester Muslim Welfare Association, which runs the mosque in Tallow Hill, reported the sign to the city council - and it has now been removed.

Cllr Riaz said: "Although we are a peaceful, co-existing, loving city, we are fearful that there are people out there that want to destroy that relationship.

"The threat of extremism and the far right is very real. We have seen it in Europe and across the world, it's a very worrying trend to see an increase in this type of activity. We have seen an increase in hate crime over the last few years.

"I'm beginning to get worried. We saw the EDL last year and what they tried to do to divide us."

Cllr Riaz warned that history showed how incendiary language could whip up hysteria and lead to genocide, such as massacre of Jews in WW2 and Muslims in the Bosnian War.

Mohammed Iqbal, general secretary of Worcester Muslim Welfare Association, said: "I first noticed poster on Friday morning when driving past the Hill street car park. The poster was A3 sized and on a sign board.

“I didn't stop to read it on the day but noticed it again whilst driving on Sunday.

“I found the poster quite disturbing. This was hate being openly being propagated.

“I tweeted the picture and it was quickly picked up by Lynn Denham and Tell Mama.

“It was quickly actioned and the poster was removed within a few hours.”

The poster was allegedly published by the British Renaissance Policy Institute, a group responsible for Islamophobic posters put up in Worcester in the past.

The latest sign said 'stop white genocide in South Africa' and warned the country was 'an example of what will happen to white Europeans when we are replaced by immigrants ethnic cleansing'.

Iman Atta, director of Tell MAMA, an Islamophobia reporting group, said the poster showed the far-right's newfound confidence to spread its 'toxic' views.

He added that the Tallow Hill mosque is an open positive place that is part of the local community.