One of the team who helped organise the Black Lives Matter gathering in Shepton Mallet has said the pinning up of offensive posters outside of her family's business has just made her more determined to keep going with the cause.

Deb Rossiter, who lives in Evercreech, found the golliwog posters pinned up outside of the storage business she runs with her husband Joe in Pylle this morning (June 16).

Deb and Joe's family is mixed race and their daughter and son-in-law, who live in Shepton Mallet, were among the organisers of the protest in Collett Park on Saturday.

All of the family helped out with the event in one way or another, and Deb said that the posters were incredibly upsetting but made her more determined than ever.

She told Shepton Mallet Nub News: "It was very upsetting to find these posters, but sadly highlights the views of some people in the area to the Black Lives Matter agenda.

"I am not sure where Shepton Mallet goes from here - we had such a great opportunity to show what a fantastic, progressive place this is, but now we have this and all the negative attitude.

"The views expressed by putting up the posters are like going back 70 years, it's unbelievable really.

"We have had lots of support privately from people in and around the town, but it is such a shame that people seem to be living in fear of openly supporting the campaign.

"However, all the people who put these posters up have done is increase my resolve and they have made me more determined than ever to change people's views to show that black lives matter.

"We will be holding another gathering, and there will be many more taking place in the area over the coming months, maybe when people do not have coronavirus to hide their outdated views behind."

The posters at Deb's business were of golliwogs, one saying "My New Family" and the other one showing a golliwog atop the plinth where the Edward Colston statue stood in Bristol.

Golliwogs originally started appearing in children's fiction books in the Victorian era, though for the last few decades have come to symbolise racism due to their crude depiction of people with African roots.

Deb says she has reported the incident to the police, and has praised Avon and Somerset Constabulary for their co-operation over the Black Lives Matter gathering.

"Through all of this, Avon and Somerset Police have been brilliant," she said.

"They have been wonderful and supportive, and we are so grateful for everything they have done to help the cause.

"It would be great now to see Shepton Mallet come together and work together to stamp out racism - that is ultimately what it is all about."