THE leader of Cotswold District Council Lynden Stowe is among those adding their voices to condemn incidents of hate crime, on the rise nationally following the Brexit vote.

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary said although earlier indications were that there had not been a spike in race hate incidents in the county, the force is aware of a number of hate comments online following the referendum.

Last recorded police figures, also showed a rise in the number of incidents.

Councillor Stowe said the incidents of verbal abuse and xenophobic threats aimed at ethnic minorities were appalling and should not be tolerated.

"The UK enjoys worldwide recognition as a tolerant and peace loving nation," Cllr Stowe said.

"We’re fortunate in the Cotswolds because there are very low levels of hate crime – nevertheless, we can’t afford to be complacent and we encourage everyone to help us drive out this sort of anti-social behaviour.

"The recent increase in hate crime across the UK is despicable and there is no place for it, both here in the Cotswolds and also across the whole country.

"All people living in the Cotswolds are seen as valued members of our communities, including those from other nations."

Gloucestershire Constabulary's last recorded figures for ‘racially and religiously prejudicial incidents’ showed a rise in the area in the last period, which included the referendum debate.

Between June 2013 and May 2014 there were 156 incidents, between June 2014 and May 2015 there were 155, while the last period, June 2015 to May 2016, there was a rise to 182.

The police spokesman said: "We are aware that a number of racially-motivated hate comments have been made on social media following the EU referendum result.

"However, we have not experienced a spike in race hate incidents in the county thought to be linked to the result - although this is difficult to decipher.

"We would like to remind people that hate crime is wrong and are reassuring victims that we take hate crimes seriously."

Last week Prime Minister David Cameron used his first Commons speech since the referendum to hit out at a 57 per cent hike nationwide.

Cotswold District Council's website has a section dedicated to hate crime at cotswold.gov.uk/residents/communities, while the force's website also offers advice on how to report incidents at gloucestershire.police.uk/what-do-i-do-if.