Racists who hurled bacon sandwiches at one of Britain's largest mosques and abused elderly worshippers as they tried to pray were being hunted by police today.

An unidentified gang had gathered outside the Bristol Jamia Mosque during prayer time in Sunday afternoon, throwing sandwiches at its doors.

They were also said to have hung up bacon outside the mosque in the Totterdown area of the city, as well as displaying a flag reading 'No Mosques', despite the attempts of people living nearby who tried to get them to move on.

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Racists who hurled bacon sandwiches at the Bristol Jamia Mosque (pictured) and abused elderly worshippers as they tried to pray were being hunted by police today

Police, who were called to the scene at around 12.50pm, said two men and one woman were involved in the incident, which is being treated as a hate crime. A 34 year-old man was arrested and remains in custody.

Video footage of the attack has surfaced online and shows two men fixing a St George's cross flag to the railings outside the mosque with 'No Mosques' written in big letters across the middle of it.

The video captures a passerby asking the group: 'Why are you putting that sign up there?'

One of the men responds: 'We don't want no more mosques here.'

The recording then shows the steps leading to the mosque's main prayer hall which are littered with two bacon sandwiches.

More chattering can be heard before the trio climb into a dark green car and drive away.

The men in the video are both white. One is dressed in a green jacket and dark trousers while the other wears a grey hoody and white shorts.

The woman recording the video, which was uploaded to the Hope not Hate YouTube channel this morning, is wearing black shoes, black jeans and carrying a brown bag.

Police, who were called to the scene at around 12.50pm, said two men and one woman were involved in the incident at the mosque (pictured), which is being treated as a hate crime

Rabia Zaheer, who witnessed the attack, said: 'Pig meat was hung outside at prayer time and they hung their flag up.

'The worst thing is they decided to hang around and hurl abuse at the elderly men trying to pray.

'The locals did try to intervene and shout the scum down. Police are involved and the CCTV is being checked.

'Typical - they attack on a day when it's mostly elderly men at the mosque and no young ones.

'I've lived here all my life and nothing like this has ever happened before.'

This morning, sympathy cards and flowers were left outside the main entrance, where the bacon had been just hours before, while community leaders denounced the 'cowardly' attack.

Bristol mayor George Ferguson wrote on Twitter: 'I'm disgusted by cowardly attack on members of Jamia #Mosque today & stand with you to show #Bristol does not tolerate such vile behaviour.'

Labour candidate for mayor Marvin Rees tweeted: 'Full #SolidarityWithIslam after attack at Jamia Mosque in Totterdown this afternoon. Racism has no place in our city.'

Abdul Raoof Malik, chair of Easton Jamia Mosque and a member of the Council of Bristol Mosques, said he was 'very saddened' to hear of the incident.

Community leaders, including Bristol mayor George Ferguson have condemned the attack on the mosque

Labour candidate for mayor Marvin Rees tweeted: 'Full #SolidarityWithIslam after attack at Jamia Mosque in Totterdown this afternoon. Racism has no place in our city'

'This type of incident is very rare in our wonderful city and we do not feel that this is anything more than a group of opportunists who found a spot to take a photo which indeed reflects their character and offensive cause.

'This is an isolated incident and we hope the local neighbourhood will help the police in their enquires, which I'm sure are happening right now.'

He added: 'We are proud of the unity in our great city and we will not let a few individuals fuel any hatred towards us or allow any individual or group break the bridges it has taken years to make between us.'

Police Chief Inspector Kevan Rowlands said: 'Behaviour of this kind is totally unacceptable.

'Our communities have the right to live and worship peacefully without fear of being targeted for their race or religion.

'We take all hate crime incidents extremely seriously and we are working closely with the mosque to ensure the offenders are held to account for their abhorrent actions.'