Abuse after Muslim hikers' Countryfile appearance

Haroon Mota founded Muslim Hikers to encourage more people "who looked like me" to go country walking

The founder of a Muslim hikers' group says it has been the subject of "shocking" online abuse since appearing on Countryfile.

Haroon Mota, from Coventry, took part in an outdoor arts event filmed on Scafell Pike in September for the BBC special shown on Sunday.

He recruited more than 200 volunteers to take part.

"If we ever needed any validation for why we exist and why we do what we do, this is why," said Mr Mota.

The special episode of Countryfile highlighted Green Space Dark Skies, an artistic celebration of nature

A Countryfile spokesperson said: "The countryside is for everyone, so we're saddened to hear of this.

"Countryfile has a proud record of celebrating the nation's shared love of hiking."

The Muslim Hikers were among a group of several hundred who gathered at England's highest mountain for the filming of the Green Space Dark Skies project.

"Unfortunately we have received an overwhelming amount of abuse online, a lot of racism," Mr Mota said. "It's something we have had before in the past and it's unfortunate that it's happening again.

"The reason why we set up Muslim Hikers was so we can create a community where people feel safe, a community where people can thrive... and hike confidently.

"It's a shame that we receive abuse occasionally, but this type of abuse only gives us the reasoning and the justifications for why we existed in the first place."

The Muslim Hikers group goes on monthly walks at locations across the UK

The group, set up by Mr Mota during the pandemic, has attracted a large community of outdoor enthusiasts and has almost 24,000 Instagram followers, he said.

It previously received online abuse after pictures of a hike were posted online.

Speaking on Countryfile, Mr Mota said: "Twenty years ago, when I started hiking, this seemed so strange that there was a lack of people looking like me. People of colour, black people, ethnic minorities, we just didn't see them in the outdoors.

"Over the years, as I built my passion for the outdoors, I felt like I wanted to do something to encourage more of our guys to get outside."