The Muslim Association of Croydon has warned Muslims and other ethnic minorities to “stay vigilant” and report hate crime following a spike of racist attacks in the wake of Brexit.

The association said the leave result has “legitimised the environment of hate that already exists for Muslims in Croydon” and called on Croydon police and Croydon Council to take urgent steps to safeguard the community.

Police forces across the country have reported a spike in racially motivated crime since Britain voted to leave the European Union in the biggest referendum decision of a generation.

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Ashtaq Arain, secretary of the Muslim Association of Croydon, urged those affected by hate crime to report it.

He said: “People need to be vigilant but also people need to report the incidents if and when they happen.

“Very often people are reluctant to do this, particularly women who are more vulnerable than anyone else in Croydon, especially in the Muslim community.

“We have a network of people that we deal with and they have mentioned to us that there has been an increase in the number of incidents, although not as high as other parts of the country.

“Personally I think it is because Croydon is a very cosmopolitan borough and people are quite tolerant amongst themselves, but there is no doubt about it that there are incidents that have happened.

“But I think it is important at this particular time when we have seen a spike that if anything happens it needs to be reported to the appropriate parties.”

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Mr Arain added that the mood in Croydon since the referendum has been “damp” with younger generations feeling particularly disappointed with the vote.

“We do a lot of work with young Muslim people in Croydon and they feel very, very let down because of the result.

“There are some very highly qualified university degree graduates that have been struggling to get jobs and they feel their job opportunities have further been reduced.

“The mood is quite damp in terms of the Muslim community.”

There has been a 57 per cent increase in reporting hate crime to police, according to the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC).

Croydon’s borough commander moved to reassure the community saying police are doing what they can to promote harmony in the community.

Chief Supt Andy Tarrant said: “We haven’t seen a significant rise but that is not to say we are not monitoring the situation.

“We have encouraged anyone to report any incident to us as such behaviour is clearly unacceptable – it was unacceptable before the vote and it is still unacceptable.

“We have increased our patrols and we went to a community cohesion event at the mosque yesterday in Croydon.

“We are trying to be more visible, we are trying to promote community cohesion and we are encouraging people to be more vigilant.

“It is not a significant issue in Croydon but we know it goes under-reported and we want people to come and tell us about it.”

Social media users have spotted anti-racism graffiti in the town as a show of solidarity to migrants in Croydon.

At a council meeting last night council leader Tony Newman condemned the racist attacks that have been seen across the country since last week’s referendum.

To report a hate crime call police on 101 or visit report-it.org.uk, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.