Police had to intervene at a council meeting after protesters caused trouble as the row over an unofficial Lee Rigby memorial rumbled on.

Council leader Denise Hyland was shouted at as she was reading a statement in response to death threats towards a council worker.

The controversy started when the council removed items from the shrine in Hillreach because of the "unsightly" nature of it.

A council caretaker was issued with death threats after a video emerged online of him taking down flags from the memorial.

The family of Lee Rigby had requested for the memorial to be removed.

It is the site where Lee Rigby, 25, was brutally murdered when he was hit by a car before being killed.

A permanent memorial was put in place at a different site on Armistice Day in November 2015 in St George’s Garrison Church in Woolwich.

The live feed of the council meeting was stopped as councillors left the room while police dealt with a group who started shouting.

Responding to the disruption, Cllr Hyland said: "It is very sad that a small group of people came along to tonight’s council meeting with the apparent aim of disrupting it.

"Some of their comments were shockingly insulting but it is heartening how members of the council showed unity and most simply waited until the protesters had been ejected by the Police to continue with the meeting as planned.”

Before yesterday's council meeting (January 31) Greenwich Council released a statement calling on the borough to "come together to stand as one".

The statement added: "Five years ago this year, Fusilier Lee Rigby was brutally murdered on our very streets. This was a horrific act that shocked us all, provoking outrage across the country, and the world.

"And yet, five years on we are still fighting extremism - extremism that has been played out very publicly on social media recently, with words of hatred and acts of oppression against innocent people.

"We utterly deplore this negativity and call upon the residents of Royal Greenwich – and beyond – to listen with your own ears, do not just accept another’s rhetoric – and do not live with anger and hatred in your hearts."

One Woolwich resident wrote to News Shopper defending the council's decision to remove the unofficial memorial.

They said: "I live by where it happened. It was dreadful. I would like to point out that I think the council are right."

They described "filthy torn flags", teddy bears which became dirty and dead flowers.

The letter continued: "Let's respect Lee Rigby in a different way. Stop blaming the council for everything."