COMMUNITY groups have said there is 'no place for racism and division' in Cumbria after an extreme far-right group held a meeting in a Penrith village hall. 

The openly fascist group New British Union - which supports the ideology of Oswald Mosley - East division met at Eamont Bridge Village Hall on May 27, it has been confirmed. 

The group's members, which are known as The Blackshirts derived from those who supported Mussolini's fascist movement, are led by Gary Raikes - former leader of Scotland's BNP. 

Eamont Bridge Village Hall has confirmed they were unaware the venue was being used for such purposes. 

A spokesperson from NBU said: "It was one of many meetings held across the UK for NBU members to come together to discuss British Fascism and its future." 

Pictures circulating on Telegram showed around eleven Blackshirts attended the event, which was followed by a visit to a pub in the area, in which the members displayed their signature flag in a beer garden - the flash and the circle, representing the group's ideology. 

The meeting follows just a week after homes in Carlisle were targeted by a leafleting campaign by another far-right group, Patriotic Alternative. 

Janett Walker, CEO of Anti Racist Cumbria, called for communities to unite against far-right groups such as New British Union and Patriotic Alternative, who view Cumbria as a 'soft target'.  

"Cumbria is not a playground for extreme views and we ask that our communities visibly unite against them.

"Far-right groups are increasingly emboldened and some view Cumbria as a soft target for their message of division.

"We ask for people, organisations and embrace anti-racism. To recognise that being ‘not racist’ about the seemingly small stuff is what creates a breeding ground for these more vitriolic views to take hold and grow in confidence.

"Show you don’t stand for racism in any form, in any place. Choose anti-racism.

"Write to your MP, to your town councils, to your community leaders and tell them that they must vocalise that Cumbria is on a mission to become an anti-racist county and that these messages of hate and division have no place in our towns, in our villages, by our coasts or on our fells," she said. 

A spokesperson from Penrith and Eden Refugee Network said the group's message of division is 'vile and unwelcome'. 

''There is no place in our community for the racism and division promoted by the New British Union NE. 

"Spreading hatred and division is vile and unwelcome. 

"Penrith and Eden and Cumbria and the northeast, that this group purports to represent do not identify or welcome racism and facism. 

"We are a place that upholds anti-racism and is proud of the diversity and migrant origins within our community that date back to Roman times and before," they said.