Muslim community leaders have spoken of Swindon communities in fear following the London mosque attack.

Mohammed Ishak Mogul, chairman of Swindon Muslim Council, said he heard the news as he returned from midnight prayers.

“I was shocked – very, very shocked. We’ve had incidents of islamophobia and hatred reported across the country. But this is a very violent manifestation of islamophobia, which worries us greatly. Our prayers are with the victims and their families.

In the early hours of Monday morning a man driving a large white van into a group of worshippers near London’s Finsbury Park Mosque. Muslims are currently celebrating Ramadan.

Witnesses said the man, who was detained by members of the public before police arrived, shouted: “I’m going to kill Muslims.”

Mr Mogul said: “This is an act of terror on British Muslims. People are right to be angry and take precautionary measures. But you can’t fight hatred with hatred. That doesn’t resolve anything.

“We need to bring people together. In Wiltshire we believe we have a community spirit and we want to keep it going.”

Kenyan-born Mr Mogul, who moved to Swindon in 2001 to open a factory for Motorola, says that Muslim community leaders are working closely with the authorities to tackle hate crime – and a similar attack in Swindon is highly unlikely.

“We’ve had a few hate crimes, but we work with the community policing on addressing those. We try and combat it there and then.”

Wiltshire Police received 467 reports of hate crime offences in 2015-2016, including 23 where the hatred was aimed at the victim’s religion.

Kier Pritchard, Assistant Chief Constable for Wiltshire Police, said: "This incident will undoubtedly cause shock and concern and we would like to reassure all our communities in Wiltshire that we will not tolerate hate crimes of any nature. We are working closely with community leaders to ensure that we are doing everything we can to keep people safe. Security measures at mosques and other significant sites are being reviewed and high visibility patrols for reassurance are being increased.

"I must stress that there is no known specific threat to the county or to the South West region at this time.

"Following incidents such as this, there can be an increase in hate crimes within communities and we must unite and stand together against such hatred. We have seen communities working together offering support to each other after each of these attacks and this is the spirit in which we must continue."

Police urged people to report hate crime by calling 101 or online via www.report-it.org.uk.One person is thought to have died in the Finsbury Park attack, which left eight people in hospital and another two requiring treatment at the scene. All of the casualties were Muslim, the Metropolitan Police said.

Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: “This is being treated as a terrorist attack.”

Earlier this morning the Muslim Council of Britain called for extra security around Britain’s mosques.

Robert Buckland, MP for South Swindon, spoke out against the attackers: “My thoughts are with all of those caught up in the terror attack in Finsbury Park. I am shocked and appalled by this senseless act.”