Croydon MP Andrew Pelling has urged voters to “keep the BNP at bay” at a Holocaust memorial service.

He said the annual event, held at Ruskin House, Coombe Road, on Saturday, had “a special relevance” to Waddon residents because they were “the subject of a strong push for votes from the openly racist British National Party” in their local council byelection.

"I urge all tolerant people to vote in this election in the name of good neighbourliness and good community relations to keep the BNP at bay,” Mr Pelling said.

However, Waddon BNP candidate Charlotte Lewis said: “I think it is cheap and sick of him [Mr Pelling] to compare the Holocaust with voting BNP.

“We do not want to genocide the Jewish people, we just think the Labour Government is trying to genocide the British people.

“We don’t want to kill anyone, we just want to preserve our country. We just want to put a stop to immigration, we have to close the doors.

Mr Pelling also used Saturday’s event to call for the government to work with its European partners to secure January 27 as an EU-wide public holiday marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

He said: “The Holocaust event is an important way of recalling the grief, the hate, the horror, the sorrow and the evil that calls to us down the decades.”

It is a reminder that modern society is still capable “to cast out and to persecute the outsider”, he added.

“The Stand up to Hatred theme of this year's Holocaust events emphasises how combating racist hatred must continue today.”

The second annual Holocaust event held at Ruskin House was organised by Croydon Trade Union Congress, Croydon Labour Party, Croydon Co-op, Folk & Blues Club and the Croydon Communists.