RELIGIOUS leaders have called for unity and tolerance as details emerge of an increase in racist incidents.

The Bishop of Salisbury, the Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam, has written to clergy, lay ministers and churchwardens warning of the divisions triggered by the EU Referendum.

“Speak English”: what kids shouted at Polish child as Brexit vote sparks verbal attacks across Dorset

He urged them to do all they can to encourage people to listen and talk about the effect of the vote to leave the European Union.

He said: "Ours is a diverse tolerant and creative society. Many of our neighbours who have made their home here are now feeling insecure about whether they are wanted.

"It might help for us also to think about the 2.2 million British people living elsewhere in the EU and the universal wisdom in the Gospels taught by Jesus that we should do unto others as we would have them do unto us."

He said some people are delighted with the vote to leave the EU while others are downcast or bewildered.

"One of the problems is that the result was close and fractious" he added.

At the Bournemouth Islamic Centre, Imam and Director Majid Yasin said the government should be offering more advice and should have been prepared for such an outcome.

He said: "It is a dangerous situation and there should have been a plan for a reaction to the result of the referendum.

"I would encourage people to continue to act in the way they did before the vote but if a situation arises they should definitely involve the police."

He said the current situation is unique because "it has split the community down the middle - even families are disagreeing with each other because they have voted in different ways."

He added: "This is not an excuse to act in a racist way - there needs to be more awareness and more education."

DORSET Police has joined forces with Bournemouth and Poole councils to develop an innovative app to fight hate crime.

The app encourages people to report these crimes to enable the police to bring offenders to justice. The app can be downloaded by typing Hate Crime 2 into your app search engine.

"We strongly encourage anyone who thinks they may have experienced or witnessed hate crime to report it by contacting police, contacting Crimestoppers or using our True Vision website (report-it.org.uk), where you can also find advice about staying safe. In an emergency, always dial 999" said a Dorset Police spokesman.