AN engineer has spoken of his disappointment at being 'aggressively jeered and heckled' by some people at a Black Lives Matter rally.

Omar Ahmed, who works for BAE Systems, attended the hour-long rally outside Burnley Library at the weekend.

He was one of the speakers, who spoke passionately about how racism holds no place in the world but says he was confronted by other protestors shouting 'white lives matter'.

The 30-year-old said: “I was jeered and heckled during my speech, they were very aggressive and not willing to listen or have a constructive talk. They were saying white lives matter and I said yes, they do, but black lives are being discussed now because they have been oppressed for years. My motivation is to be involved and talk about justice both in Burnley for all anti-racism groups and in the world.”

He added that education is needed to help children understand the history of the town and how multi-cultural it has become.

He said: “I think the education system needs to start teaching the bad things as well as good.

“The colonial aspect and what they did as well as how people have since come together from all backgrounds.”

The rally was held outside Burnley Library at 2.30pm on Sunday and lasted an hour.