Dorset Police is urging tolerance over the Brexit debate.

A national police chief Martin Hewitt said earlier this week that people needed to be careful not to incite tension.

Chief Superintendent Ben Hargreaves, of Dorset Police, said: “I agree with the comments and would like to add our support that anyone in an influential position needs to be mindful not only of what they say, but how they say it and the language they use.

“When there is uncertainty in society people’s emotions can run very high.

“Collectively we all need to be aware of this and do whatever we can to reduce unnecessary disruption and one way of doing this is to be really careful about the way we choose to communicate our view.”