A row has erupted over plans to commemorate the life and work of Enoch Powell with a blue plaque in Wolverhampton where he served as a Conservative MP.

The city’s Civic and Historical Society has received an application to honour the politician who caused outrage when he delivered his ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech 50 years ago.

The move has already triggered threats that any plaque would be ripped down or vandalised.

A panel of six members of the society will rule whether to commemorate the politician this year, the 20th anniversary of his death. Powell was 85 when he died in February 1998.

The father of two served as the Tory MP for Wolverhampton South West from 1950 to 1974.

His 1968 speech in Birmingham to a Conservative Association condemning a large influx of immigrants triggered a political storm and made him one of Britain’s most divisive politicians of the 20th Century. It also led to his sacking from the shadow cabinet.

Now, Wolverhampton Civic and Historical Society has revealed that it has received a promise of £1,000 to pay for the plaque. But if it receives approval they anticipate it could be targeted by vandals or become a focus for protests in the city.