Calls have been made to take down environmental posters in Kilburn deemed racist by residents.

Signs have appeared in Kilburn High Road featuring a black man holding a placard with the hashtag #CrimeNotToCare.

The posters, which include Brent Council’s Love Where You Live logo and council logo, are part of the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign.

The signs resembling a police mug shot show the man standing in front of a height chart on a wall with the words ‘Your rubbish your responsibility’.

However strong public reaction has led to Cllr John Duffy, representative for Kilburn, to demand the signs are taken down.

In a letter to Brent’s chief executive Carolyn Downs, seen by the Brent & Kilburn Times, he said a resident had approached him claiming the sign was racist.

He argued that the signs are similar to mugshots used by the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and could be misinterpreted.

He added: “I believe the signs are inappropriate and could be seen as an attempt to stereotype persons of colour as the culprits of crime and it is also conceivable that used a mug shot of a young black man against a background commonly used by LAPD...as offensive to many people.

“I am asking you to remove these signs forthwith from Kilburn, other councillors can make their own mind up.

“I do not wish to see rows of these along Kilburn High Road as I believe they give the wrong impression to the public about how to care for the environment and who is responsible for environmentally crime [sic].”

A Brent Council spokesman said the posters were part of a wider national campaign with a series of different pictures which would be put up ‘one by one’.

He said: “The imagery on this poster is part of a national campaign run by Keep Britain Tidy which is being used by Brent along with at least 30 other councils.

“We want everyone to enjoy an environment free of illegally dumped rubbish and attempts to undermine the campaign by twisting things to create division are dishonest and unhelpful.

“We are proud of the fact that we have a strong track record of using a diverse range of people in our communications and to try to create a row over a single poster is ridiculous.”

For more information about the campaign go to keepbritaintidy.org/crimenottocare/2827