George Floyd protests: More statues come down after slave trader's monument toppled in Bristol

A further three monuments are being removed over concerns they are racist after protesters toppled a statue of a slave trader in Bristol.

A statue of slaveholder Robert Milligan in the London Docklands will be taken down "as soon as possible" in line with the "wishes of the local community", officials said.

Milligan was the founder of the capital's West India Docks and the statue of him is situated outside the Museum of the London Docklands in Canary Wharf.

It comes after Black Lives Matter protesters marching over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis pulled a statue of slave trader Edward Colston off its plinth and threw it into the harbour in Bristol on Sunday.

On Tuesday, a caricature of a black man's head, which has a "save me" sign around it, was removed by the public from an 18th century pub sign in Ashbourne, Derbyshire.

More than 28,000 people signed a petition to have the "racist" sculpture taken down from the Greenman pub after it was likened to a "golliwog".

Council officials did not object to it being taken down and claimed it was removed in the interests of public safety.

Crowds gathered as the head was taken down by local residents who said they had done it to protect it.

In Antwerp, a statue of former Belgian King Leopold II, who oversaw Belgium's rule of the Congo, was taken down after it was set on fire by protesters last week.

A spokesman for the city's mayor Bart De Wever told The Brussels Times the bust has been moved to the Middelheim Museum where it will be restored.

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But he said that it is unlikely to return to its original spot, because there will be "no room for it" when the square it was in is redesigned in 2023.

"It will probably remain part of the museum's collection", he added.

The decision to remove the Robert Milligan statue came after London Mayor Sadiq Khan launched a review into the capital's landmarks.

Mr Khan told Sky's Kay Burley he wants to "have a city that better reflects the city", adding that "I suspect the committee may take down slavers' statues".

Manchester City Council has also committed to a review into its landmarks, with Councillor Luthfur Rahman describing the "weight of emotion around the symbolism attached to public statues" as "palpable" following the death of Mr Floyd.

Commenting on the removal of part of the pub sign in Ashbourne, Derbyshire Dales District Council said it was "temporarily" pulled down in the "interests of public safety".

It is protected by Grade II-listed status, so Historic England would need to be consulted if it was to be permanently taken down, a spokesman said.

Historic England acknowledged it is a "source of contention and has upset many".

As Black Lives Matter protests continue across the UK and the rest of the world, there is a growing demand for controversial monuments associated with racism and colonialism to be taken down.

There are currently similar petitions in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Oxford and Shrewsbury.

While he said he could not condemn criminal damage to the Colston statue in his city, Bristol mayor Marvin Rees told Sky News the monument was an "affront" to Black, Asian and minority ethnic residents.

But Home Secretary Priti Patel described protesters' actions as "utterly disgraceful" and threatened them with criminal charges.