London: A rise in racist incidents across the UK in the last few days has been blamed on the Brexit referendum result causing some people to "think it's open season for racism".

Political leaders called for action against intolerance, and vigilance against racism, after police said hate crime reports had risen by more than 50 per cent between Thursday and Sunday compared with the same period four weeks ago.

BBC journalist Sima Kotecha tweeted on Monday lunchtime she was "in utter shock: just been called p**i [Pakki] in my home town! Haven't heard that word here since the 80s".