A council leader has received death threats after opposing a BNP meeting at a charity-run hall.

It comes after the far-right party compared the Labour-run administration to the ousted Gaddafi regime.

The BNP accused Labour-run Hastings Borough Council of prompting a protest at St Baldslow Memorial Hall in St Leonards.

The party has now vowed to keep the locations of future Sussex meetings secret.

Simon Darby, BNP spokesman, insisted St Baldslow was just one of a number of venues the party could use in Sussex and Sunday’s event had gone ahead despite protests by more than 200 people.

He said: “We have just liberated Libya from a dictator and yet the people of Hastings aren’t allowed to hear views different to the Labour Party.

“This kind of attitude means we don’t feel comfortable revealing where our meetings could be held because we don’t want hate mail sent to people willing to host us.”

Council leader Jeremy Birch insisted he had responded to residents’ concerns that the charity-run venue might host the BNP.

He said: “I have had a few emails over the weekend. One suggested I should be hanged and another compared me to excrement.

“Far from being a dictatorship this decision was prompted by residents and was backed by the whole council.”

The BNP also complained of resistance to a stall set up by their supporters in Worthing last week.

The party claim a man spat at Bognor and Littlehampton organiser John Robinson and attacked the stall.