Hundreds of people have added their support to calls for the removal of of a statue honouring the controversial north Shropshire-born ex-Governor of India, Robert Clive.

Black Lives Matter protests saw a statue of slave trader Edward Colston torn town from its plinth in Bristol on Sunday.

Now two online petitions have been launched for the figure of Clive of India to be taken down from The Square in Shrewsbury, where it has stood since 1860.

Critics say the town’s former MP and mayor, who was born at Styche Hall between Whitchurch and Market Drayton, should not be celebrated in such a way because of his part in establishing British colonial control of India and large parts of southeast Asia through his role in the East India Company.

Clive’s rule as the first British Governor of Bengal saw widespread looting of the region’s wealth and treasures.

Changes the company made to taxes and agricultural policies are said to have led to the Bengal Famine of 1770, which saw around a third of the region’s population starve to death.

One of the petitions, started by David Parton, says: “While this statue is not anti-black racism, it goes some way to illustrate how embedded racism is in the UK.

“This statue commemorates Clive, and by so doing embodies the racist and inhumane nature of his actions.

“If we are not comfortable with a statue of Joseph Stalin or Genghis Khan, how can we be comfortable with a statue of Clive?”

Mr Parton said the statue in the centre of the county town should be replaced by that of another local notable figure such as Wilfred Owen or Mary Webb.

“I started this petition to begin the conversation about everyday racism in the UK and my hometown of Shrewsbury,” he said.

“Clive stands on a plinth in the centre of The Square, but was central to 200 years of theft, mis-rule that led to thousands of deaths, and eye-watering brutality in large swathes of the Indian subcontinent."

A second petition, started by Jake Thompson, says the statue should be replaced with a figure of “someone more worthy of celebration”.

It adds: “I urge people to look past any sentimental notions they may have attached to the statue or of the pleasing aesthetic that it may imbue onto the town square and realise the more important issue of celebrating a tyrant.”

Both petitions can be found by searching ‘Clive of India’ on change.org.

Under Shropshire Council policy, a debate is triggered if a petition reaches 1,000 signatures.