Updated

A Sri-Lankan born postmaster has banned customers from his British post office who cannot speak English, the Daily Mail reported.

Deva Kumarasiri, 40, who moved to Britain 18 months ago, has sparked an outcry over race equality with his demands that his customers should learn the language and embrace British culture.

"If you come to Britain you have got to speak English," the father-of-two told the Mail. "I am from a different country but when I came here I became British. My job is to give a service. I cannot give a service if they cannot tell me what they want."

Kumarasiri told the Mail he has banned about a half dozen customers from Sneinton Boulevard Post Office in Nottingham because of language barriers.

Race equality protesters said his stance was unrealistic and he has no right to deny anyone service.

"You are denying somebody a service that is there for everybody," Afzal Sadiq, chief executive of the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Racial Equality Council, told the Mail. "In an ideal world these people would speak English ... but learning to speak English is going to take time."

Click here to read more on this story from the Daily Mail.