A Bristol MP has called for a slave trader's statue to be removed from the city because it offends many local residents.

Thangam Debbonaire, Labour MP for Bristol West, wants the memorial of Edward Colston to be taken down as she said the city “should not be honouring people who benefited from slavery”.

Colston, who was born into a prosperous Bristol merchant's family in 1672 , made his fortune through capital trading in slaves, cloth, wine and sugar.

His statue has enraged many locals who feel like his presence is disrespectful to black Bristolians who have to walk past it everyday.

Speaking at a Black History Month event at Bristol’s City Hall, attended by Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, Mrs Debbonaire said: “Having statues of people who oppressed us is not a good thing to be saying to black people in this city.”

Marti Burgess, Trustee at equality campaign group Black South West Network, also expressed how she feels when she walks past the memorial.

She said: “I walk past it every day in my hometown and it looks like we are wanting to celebrate somebody who did what he did, and of someone of Jamaican descent, we shouldn’t memorialise someone who made money off the backs of enslaved Africans.”