A Pakistani Christian who was beaten up in Derby claims he was targeted for his faith and for displaying Remembrance Day poppies on his car.

Tajamal Amar, 46, fled to the UK in 2007 to escape persecution and was knocked unconscious outside a fast food restaurant before being taken to hospital suffering a broken nose, according to the Sunday Times. 

The delivery man says he was targeted because he had poppies on the front of his Toyota and a cross hanging from his rear-view mirror. No one has been arrested over the attack, police said.

'Several times, local Pakistani people in Derby have taken offence from the fact that I am Christian,' he said, according to the paper.

'Freedom of religion should be the right of any British citizen but today I feel unsafe, even then nothing will stop me going to church.'

He added: 'I am a huge supporter of the British Armed Forces and the work that they do around the world to stop the bad people and to make us safe.

'These persecutors cannot stop me showing my support, and I want to put more poppies on my car. I am going to put on as many as I can – maybe two more or four more – because I am not scared of anything or anyone.'

Wilson Chowdhry, chairman of the British Pakistani Christian Association, said: 'This is an example of the religious intolerance that some strands of radical Islam promote in Britain.

'An innocent man has been hospitalised, he has had to take several days off work, and now he is living in fear of further reprisals, simply for adhering to the Christian faith.'