THE Northern Echo asked its readers whether historic statues, which may have links to racism, should be removed from their plinths across the country.

Following the removal of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol on Saturday, some councils have launched a review into whether such statues should remain.

This week, the Local Government Association’s Labour group asked Labour council leaders to review “the appropriateness” of monuments and statues in their areas.

But calls for the removal of statues, which campaigners have deemed have links to 'celebrating racism and slavery,' has divided opinion.

The Northern Echo ran a nationwide poll across Facebook and Twitter and received more than 18,000 responses in 24 hours.

On Facebook, out of 17.5k people, the majority (54 percent) said YES they should be removed. 

But on Twitter, out of 627 people, the majority (63 percent) NO those statues should not be removed.

When combining the results of both polls, we found a total of 54.4 percent - 9,682 people said they should not be removed.

The remaining 45.6 percent - 8,445 people - said they should.

It comes as the campaign group named 'Topple the Racists' called for Captain Cook statues in Middlesbrough and North Yorkshire to be removed.

On social media, The Echo's readers shared some of their views as some came up with alternative suggestions.

Jeff Harper, who said there should be a public vote on the removal of statues, said: "(It) can’t be the decision of a small group of civil servants behind closed doors.

"Also, can’t be the decision of special interest groups or protesters many of whom are certainly in the minority."

Meanwhile James Munro said he didn't think they should be removed but context provided through use of explanatory plaques.

'You will find plenty of unsavoury things in the past'

He said: "Where do you stop with looking for issues with historical people, is there a specific date? Is it just racism or is it because they committed or oversaw atrocities in war - you will find plenty of unsavoury things in the past if you look enough.

"I am uncomfortable with destroying history, good, bad and ugly. Make them a lesson. I can get on board with changing names of venues though."

Todd Carstens warned against the 'erasure' of 'history.'

He said: "History isn't always pretty. But if we erase our history we'll be doomed to repeat it."

'It hurts no-one for them to be taken down'

But other Echo readers said the statues, deemed offensive, should be removed from public display and placed inside museums instead.

Joan Thompson said: "They should be removed from public display but not from the historic record.

"Put them in museums with true info about what happened. If it is erased it will be forgotten."

Chris Hoare said: "The only time I've ever learned anything about history from a statue is when one got dragged down the other day.

"We learned from books and now there's much more accurate histories in depth online. Statues are mostly to glorify people and incidents. It hurts no-one for them to be taken down."

Georgina Andrews said: "I think they should be removed, why would you want to have someone on a pedestal that made money from slave trade, we dont need these for our kids to learn about slave trade."