Leicester has a high Asian population and is predicted to be Britain’s first white-minority city in 12 years.

Samanwaya Parivar, a charity behind the plan for the 12ft bronze statue, is confident its application will be accepted by Leicester City Council.

Jitendra Acharya, the charity’s general secretary, said it would fund the project at a cost of up to 20,000 pounds, and the proposal had overwhelming support from the community.

But locals like Lee Ingram, who set up an initial ‘No Gandhi Statue’ online petition, said they felt there were more deserving local figures.

“Gandhi is a historical figure connected to India. He has no connection to English culture or the English, therefore a statue of him would be more suitably erected in India. This would be yet another symbol of segregation in Leicester and it would be something else for the Asian community. We have local heroes here, Lineker or the writer, Joe Orton,” Ingram said.

However, Acharya maintained that a Gandhi statue would add to the vibrant and multicultural elements of the city since “Gandhi’s philosophies of truth, peace and non-violence had no boundaries.”