The online petition accuses the Indian independence campaigner of being “a fascist, racist and sexual predator”.

Last year, students from Manchester called for a similar statue of Gandhi to be removed because of his “well-documented anti-black racism”.

Leicester East MP Claudia Webbe called the petition a “massive distraction” from the Black Lives Matter movement.

The Labour politician said Gandhi “was part of creating a movement in the same way that Martin Luther King created a movement”.