MORE than 30 offensive neo-Nazi posters and stickers have been removed from the streets of a North-East town in the last few days.

And after the onslaught of offensive neo-fascist stickers in Hartlepool, its councillors moved a motion to unanimously condemn racism and prejudice, while Cleveland Police are investigating.

The stickers, some of which called for a “white only” area, and worse, have been removed by council officers from lampposts, road signs and pay and display parking machines in an area around the town centre, including Church Street, Tower Street, Stockton Street and York Road, after complaints from the public.

On Thursday, all councillors who attended a meeting of the full Hartlepool Council voted to support a “statement of unity against racism and religious prejudice” proposed by council leader Christopher Akers-Belcher.

He said: “It is important that the Council takes a lead on this issue and promotes the same collective view. I am delighted that councillors from all political parties agree on the need to tackle hate and intolerance to ensure that Hartlepool continues to be a diverse, tolerant and inclusive place to live, work and visit.

“I hope that the town as a whole will now come together to make a stand against all forms of racism and xenophobia and make it clear we are not prepared to tolerate the actions of a hate-fuelled minority.

“Sadly, this is a matter that is not confined to Hartlepool and it reflects the extremely difficult and complex national situation that we face amid the EU referendum result, the horrific murder of MP Jo Cox and continued international terrorism.”

The Council is currently checking CCTV images to try to identify who is distributing them, and it is also liaising closely with Cleveland Police.

Chief Constable Iain Spittal said: “Cleveland Police does not tolerate hate crime. I would like to reassure the local community of Hartlepool that we would encourage anyone who experiences hate crime to report it.”

The force said hate crime had not increased since the EU referendum, but there had been three crimes directly linked to the EU vote in the last two weeks, one a physical attack in Middlesbrough, another a verbal assault at a takeaway in Stockton and a third which was a case of online abuse.