Britain First asked to take down offensive Facebook image of cadet schoolgirls they were claiming to protect
The charity said the girls had been approached by two men and asked for a photo but did not know who they were
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Your support makes all the difference.Britain First has been asked to remove a photograph from its Facebook page of two schoolgirl sea cadets apparently being "guarded" by members of the far-right group from attacks by "Islamists".
The group posted photographs of two men standing next to the girls while they were selling poppies as part of their "Protect the Poppy" day of action to "protect poppy sellers from abuse by Islamists".
The charity commented on the post asking for the photograph to be removed.
Please rest assured we do not support Britain First. The cadets were approached by these and asked for a photo. They...Posted by Nottingham Sea Cadets on Saturday, November 7, 2015
The chairman of the Nottingham Sea Cadets, Sue Dewey, told The Independent the charity were "furious" about it.
She said: "It is completely beyond the pale. They haven't got permission and these kids are vulnerable- they don’t know who these people are and lots of people want to have their photo with cadets because they look so great in their uniform.
"They are using this spurious excuse that they are protecting the children but the kids don’t do this on their own they have adult instructors with them anyway so the whole thing is just shocking and we are really not happy about this."
She said the parents were furious because they normally had to give permission before their children's images were used in any publicity and they had made a "concerted effort" to get the image remove with "100s of people" reporting the image to Facebook.
Their umbrella organisation, Sea Cadets UK said: "We are aware that an organisation we do not support or endorse is using an image of Sea Cadets to promote their own political agenda via their Facebook page.
"Sea Cadets is a national charity and an Apolitical organisation that is open to all faiths and none and we are fully inclusive.
"The posts on this organisation’s page are not in keeping with the Sea Cadet values or ethos. We have contacted them asking them to remove the image.
"However due to Facebook policy we are mindful that they may not be legally obliged to do so."
One of the mothers of the girls pictured also commented on the original post saying: "I am the mum of one of the girls. I’m horrified you have done this and posted it without any parental consent let alone the consent of the Sea Cadets.
"I really do not want my daughter linked to your site and I would ask to please remove the picture straight away.
"If you have any children imagine how you would feel if someone did this to them."
She added she had contacted Facebook and the police about getting the image removed.
The picture, which was posted by the group on Saturday evening, is one of a series of presumed Britain First members taking photographs with poppy sellers across the country - including another photograph taken with young army cadets.
The Independent has contacted Britain First for comment.