Support means everything after threat - mosque

About 60 people were said to have turned up to Hastings Mosque to show their support

Displays of support for a mosque that was reportedly threatened with an attack "mean everything", one of its committee members has said.

Sussex Police said it was treating a message received by Hastings Mosque on Sunday as a hate crime and had stepped up patrols in the area.

Alongside officers, about 60 people were said to have showed up to support the mosque, although an attack did not take place.

Yunis Smith, a member of mosque's board of trustees, said it was "a real solidarity moment, very emotional".

Mr Smith, who is also a Green Party councillor in Hastings, said the message was "a very short two-liner" sent via the mosque's contact form and was the second threatening communication it had received in six months.

Yunis Smith praised Sussex Police for its actions after it was contacted about the threat

Alongside the police, the council was informed, while Mr Smith contacted the Hastings branch of Stand Up To Racism.

The campaign group said it had called on "people to come out to defend the mosque and show solidarity to our Muslim sisters and brothers".

Baklava and tea

Mr Smith said "local residents and community members" were offered baklava and tea, and that "community support means everything".

"We are key members of the community... and to see that we're supported as much as we're integrated is fantastic really," he added.

Sussex Police said the incident was being treated as a hate crime and an investigation was under way to identify those responsible.

Mr Smith said residents "wanted to show their support and solidarity" with the mosque

Elsewhere is Sussex, the force said it had stepped up patrols around a mosque in Peacehaven after a report eggs were thrown at the building.

Detectives said the incident in Phyllis Avenue over the weekend was also being treated as a hate crime.

Both incidents follow violent disorder across the UK in recent days.

The government has offered extra security to mosques, while Surrey Police said a large police presence was at the UK's oldest purpose-built mosque in Woking on Monday following reports of possible disorder.

Mr Smith, a Muslim convert who described himself as "born and bred Hastings", condemned the actions of those involved in carrying out riots.

He added: "I wish that we could just sit and discuss all of this because we would see that we have far more in common than what sets us apart."