CALLS for tolerance have been made amid offers of solidarity following reports of post-referendum racism.

Thousands of people including MP Caroline Lucas have started wearing a safety pin as a mark of solidarity with the UK's immigrant population following reports of racism across the country - including from people in Sussex.

Natalie Pitimson a lecturer in sociology at the university of Brighton, has told how she was subjected to anti-semitic abuse.

Ms Pitimson said she was abused with an offensive term and told to "go back to Israel."

She said: "Nobody else in the packed rush hour carriage reacted, despite almost certainly having heard.

"I got off at the next stop. I was shaking and very upset. I thought about nothing else for the rest of the day."

Former Byker Grove actress Maria Mcateer was with her three-year-old daughter and her mother in a Hastings cafe when she heard a group of people talking loudly about Brexit before launching into a racist song.

The half Irish and Trinidadian actress, who was born in London, said she was left “close to tears” after the incident.

Hastings council leader, councillor Peter Chowney said: “I was disappointed to hear that some areas of the country have experienced a rise in community tension and, indeed, some members of minority communities here in Hastings now feel more uncomfortable following the referendum decision."

A speech about refugees by Brighton and Hove City Council leader Warren Morgan was interrupted by a man shouting ‘don’t you know the borders have closed’?

Assistant Chief Constable Laurence Taylor said a spike reported elsewhere in the country was not the case in Sussex, but encouraged anyone who had seen it or been a target to call them on 101.

  • Have you been affected by post-Brexit hate crime? Contact the Argus newsdesk via news@theargus.co.uk