Police have been called in after students threw a 'glitter bomb' at former MP George Galloway during an event in Aberdeen.

The former Respect MP was about to begin speaking at Aberdeen University on Tuesday night when a group in the front row of the lecture theatre stood up and covered him in gold glitter.

Security guards stepped in and tackled the group, who were shouting abuse at Mr Galloway, and quickly escorted them from the premises.

Mr Galloway carried on with his lecture but later took to social media to say he had been attacked by a group of five people.

The incident was partially capture on Periscope, where the talk was being live-streamed.

The protesters had been handing out leaflets to other students before the event (pictured above).

Mr Galloway said: "This evening, someone calling themselves "trans" and an "anarchist" led a five person attack on me on the platform at Aberdeen University.

"I now have an unknown substance in my eyes and lungs and feel a little unwell. But the struggle continues."

Glitter bombing has become a recent act of protest that sees activists throw glitter on people during public events. High profile victims of the phenomenon include Mitt Romney, Germaine Greer and Lindsay Lohan.

First year history student Ruhi Singha, 19, who attended the talk, said she was "disgusted" by the incident.

She said: "As Galloway started speaking, around five students in the front row got up.

"They unzipped their coats which revealed tops that had insults regarding Galloway on them.

"They then got a glittery powder substances and flung it all over Galloway whilst shouting at him.

"They called him many names and accused him of being anti-Semitic and homophobic to name a few."

She added: "I think that the actions of those students were disgusting. Mr Galloway had come simply to express his political views.

"He should not be attacked for that; we live in a free country."

A Police Scotland spokesman confirmed officers had been called to the campus to deal with an incident.

He said: "We are at the university attending an incident there. We are conducting inquiries."