A Muslim halal butchers has been gutted by fire after thugs threw a petrol bomb into the shop just days after Britain voted to leave the EU.

It is the UK's latest suspected racist attack and follows the vandalising of a Polish community centre in west London and a BBC news presenter being called a 'P***' in her home town of Basingstoke.

Vandals are also said to have targeted every German-made car parked on one London street, scratching Swastikas and other offensive drawings into the bodywork.

Gutted: A Muslim halal butchers in Walsall, West Midlands, has been destroyed after thugs threw a petrol bomb into the store just days after Britain voted to leave the EU

The attack on Kashmir Meat & Poultry butchers in Walsall, West Midlands, happened at 5.25pm yesterday

Victim: Jamil Hussain, 38, the owner of Kashmir Meat & Poultry in Walsall, West Midlands, is pictured

It follows a 57 per cent rise in race-hate crime since last Thursday's EU referendum. In particular, police have been investigating a number of attacks on Poles and Muslims.

The horrific attack on Kashmir Meat & Poultry butchers in Walsall, West Midlands, happened at 5.25pm yesterday.

Police say a 6ft tall white man, who was wearing a blue jacket, walked into the halal butchers and threw a lit bottle of accelerant.

Luckily, a worker in the store managed to escape with just bruises after the attack.

But dramatic pictures show how the butchers was left completely gutted, with the front windows blown out and the walls covered in soot.

West Midlands Police said it was keeping an open mind over the motive of the attack.

However, locals living in the area said they were in no doubt it was related to Brexit, saying tensions are 'running high in the community'.

Police say a 6ft tall white man, who was wearing a blue jacket, walked into the halal butchers and threw a lit bottle of accelerant. Luckily, a worker in the store managed to escape with just bruises after the attack

Destroyed: Dramatic pictures show how the butchers was left completely gutted, with the front windows blown out and the walls covered in soot

West Midlands Police said it was keeping an open mind over the motive of the attack. But locals living in the area said they were in no doubt it was related to Brexit, saying tensions are 'running high in the community'

Clean-up: Mary Walker, 67, from Pleck in Walsall, said tensions in the community had heightened since Britain voted to leave the EU. The scene at Kashmir Meat and Poultry shop is pictured today

Probe: A spokesman for West Midlands Police said the incident is being investigated by officers, who are currently making inquiries and examining CCTV

A spokesman for the force said the incident is being investigated by officers, who are currently making inquiries and examining CCTV footage.

Detective Inspector Greg Evans said: 'The inquiry is at an early stage and I am keeping an open mind as to the motive.

'The man was not seriously injured but it could have been much more serious.'

Mary Walker, 67, from Pleck in Walsall, said tensions in the community had heightened since Britain voted to leave the EU.

INCREASE OF INCIDENTS OF HATE CRIME REPORTED IN THE WAKE OF THE BREXIT VOTE The UK has seen a 57 per cent rise in race-hate crime following the referendum decision to leave the EU last week. Among the dozens of reported incidents are: Muslim halal butchers, Kashmir Meat & Poultry butchers in Walsall, West Midlands, left gutted after thugs threw a petrol bomb into the shop. The vandalising of Polish community centre in West London. A BBC news presenter called a 'P***' in her home town of Basingstoke. BMWs and Audis scratched by vandals in Hammersmith, west London, targeting German-made cars. Polish student Agata Brzezniak, 25, told by a woman on a bus in Manchester to be 'scared' and 'prepared to have to get a visa to be able to stay in her country'. Nanny Kimberley Roberts, 31, was called a 'C****' in London and told she would have to 'go back home soon' on the Tube in London. Graduate Natasha Bandlish, 21, from Dulwich, London, was 'flabbergasted' after a group of construction workers on the train stared and laughed at her while shouting about British independence. Advertisement

She added: 'It isn’t the nicest area around here and it does attract people with far right views.

'I have overheard people making comments to Eastern European residents and Muslims that they should go home now.

'It is a disgrace that these thugs are trying to intimidate people like this and think it is the best way to get what they want.

'Just because we voted to leave the EU it doesn’t mean we should only be a country of white Brits.

'I’m positive the man who runs it isn’t even European, it’s just mindless racism which people think is OK now just because we voted out.

'I am sure it will be related to the referendum result, I have no doubt.

'This poor butcher works hard for a living, which I bet is more than you can say for the idiot who did this.'

A Muslim grandfather, who didn’t want to be name for fear of reprisals, added: 'I was horrified when I saw the damage.

'We are thankful that no one was seriously hurt but we could easily have been looking at a death.

'My family uses the butchers and I know this will have shaken them up.

'Being a multi-cultural society is part of what makes Britain great and it should stay that way.

'The Muslim community around here is very much on edge at the moment.'

Meanwhile, in Dalling Road, Hammersmith, west London, residents say BMWs and Audis were scratched by vandals when only German-made cars were targeted last Friday night.

Police were unable to say at this stage whether the incident is being treated as race-related.

Elsewhere, a Polish student says he was abused on a bus on his way to university several hours after the referendum result.

Agata Brzezniak, 25, who is completing a PhD in chemistry at Manchester University, claims a woman told him to be 'scared' and to be 'prepared to have to get a visa to be able to stay in her country'.

Racist attack? Meanwhile, in Dalling Road, Hammersmith, west London, residents say BMWs and Audis were scratched by vandals when only German-made cars were targeted last Friday night (pictured)

Damaged: Vandals are also said to have targeted every German-made car parked on one London street, scratching Swastikas and other offensive drawings into the bodywork (pictured)

Targeted: Police were unable to say at this stage whether the incident is being treated as race-related. One of the Audis damaged is pictured

He said: 'As many Polish people in the country I feared the EU referendum result would cause an increase in intolerance, discrimination and racism, but I didn’t think it would become so aggressive and be so immediate.

'The vicious smile and the way she looked at me brought me to tears. I always thought I would be able to stand up for myself and respond to discrimination but this situation left me feeling scared, sad and hopeless. I got off the bus and decided to walk the rest of the way to university.'

Mr Brzezniak added: 'Sadly, I think the result of the referendum has almost ‘empowered’ the people who already had racist views to openly express them.'

Kimberley Roberts, 31, originally from Chester, who works as a nanny in London, says she was called a 'C****' and told she would have to 'go back home soon' when travelling on the Tube over the weekend

Meanwhile, graduate Natasha Bandlish, 21, from Dulwich, south-east London, said she was 'flabbergasted' after a group of construction workers stared at her on the train whilst shouting about British independence.

Ms Bandlish said: '(I’ve) never really experienced blatant racism. When I was a kid I had a few children refer to me as ‘P***', meant as a racial slur.

'I was born and brought up in London before moving to India when I was 10. I moved back to London at the age of 18 to go to the University of Westminster.

'On the day of the referendum result I was on a train in south-east London when a group of construction workers all started drinking in my carriage.

'They all looked at me and laughed whilst jeering and talking about how that day would be known as British Independence Day, and that next year it would be a bank holiday. One of them shouted it out and made direct eye contact with me and laughed.'

She added: 'I was just flabbergasted... It’s such a backward attitude to have, I was especially surprised that I experienced it in London.'

And Kimberley Roberts, 31, originally from Chester, who works as a nanny in London, says she was called a 'C****' and told she would have to 'go back home soon' when travelling on the Tube over the weekend.

She said: 'I felt hurt and confused at first. I wasn’t sure why he was saying this to me. I’m English. My parents are English and my grandparents are English. All born and raised in this country.

'When I got off the Tube I felt sick and anxious. I was concerned as to how many more people he had spoken to like this.'

The abuse comes amid a background of 'hate crimes' being probed by police across the UK with an increase in reports of attacks on ethnic minorities in the wake of last week's Brexit vote.