London Bridge hero Roy Larner sorry for offence caused by racist abuse saying 'it wasn't intentional'

The man, famous for shouting 'f*** you I'm Millwall' at terrorists, said protestors were taunting him

Roy Larner, the Millwall fan who became famous after the London Bridge attack, has said sorry for any offence caused by his racist rant and claimed it "wasn't intentional".

Mr Larner was branded the "Lion of London Bridge" after his heroics during the attack, which saw him stabbed eight times and fighting for his life. His fame – for having shouted "f*** you I'm Millwall" at oncoming attackers – brought him praise from various celebrities, £50,000 in donations and a beer named in his honour.

But criticism has since turned on him since video emerged of him shouting racist abuse at anti-racist protestors, and apparently spitting in the face of a black photographer, just weeks before the attack.

Now Mr Larner has apologised for any offence caused by the abuse and said it was the result of a fallout between him and the protestors.

"I have seen the video clip and I’m sorry to have caused any offence, it wasn’t intentional and something that took place months ago," he told The Sun.

"I was out walking my dogs and got caught up in a march. The dogs got agitated as the marchers were coming over to them, things got heated and personal, a slanging match started and got abusive, bad language was used and they were taunting me."

He said that "I couldn’t just walk away without saying anything."

In the video, Mr Larner is shown pointing himself and shouting National Front, as well as shouting a variety of swearwords at protestors and a man who attempts to take photographs of him.

His mother had said earlier that Mr Larner had become angry after an argument about the dogs he was walking and that the video showed her son was "certainly quite a character, he can be a bit of a handful."