THE burka should be banned, Bucks Free Press readers said in an online poll.

Some 78 per cent of those who voted, 1,197 people, said the Islamic face veil should be banned in public.

Some 347, 22 per cent, said it should not. They were asked: “Are you in favour of banning the burka?”

It comes after Wycombe MP Steve Baker branded ban calls ‘absurd’ (see link, bottom of story).

But Conservative MP Philip Hollobone, who hopes to pass a law banning the covering of the face in public, welcomed the news.

The Kettering MP said: “I am not surprised by the poll as it reflects similar reactions elsewhere.

“It reflects the way most people across the country think about covering the face in public.

“Most people regard the full face Islamic veil as inappropriate in modern 21st century Britain.

“It acts as a barrier to include Muslims into the British way of life. It is alien to British culture.”

He said his bill would ban any covering of the face so as to include ‘a white man wearing a balaclava’.

But Mr Baker said: “It would be better if ladies showed their faces but it is just, in my view, a dangerous thing if Parliament started legislating for what people want to wear.”

He said: “It seems common sense to me that social cohesion would be improved by the ladies choosing to show their faces. It would make communication easier.”

Zafar Iqbal, chairman of Wycombe Islamic Mission and Mosque Trust, said: “Banning the burka would not serve any purpose “The Muslim community throughout the world and particularly in Wycombe has been working hard since 7/7.

“This is our country and we want to make sure every community lives here in a safe and peaceful way.”

Wearing of the burka is ‘not common’ in the town, he said.

And he hit out at claims that women are forced to wear the burka by their husbands, enforcing the need for a ban.

Mr Iqbal said: “I don’t have any knowledge that these ladies who wear the Burka are forced to. They are very independent.”