TWO videos being shared on Facebook of a man pretending to pray to 'Aladdin' in a Muslim prayer room are being investigated as a hate crime.

Videos shared from a profile on Facebook under the name Terence Howarth show the man in what is believed to be the prayer room of Royal Bolton Hospital.

A woman from Halliwell who is visiting the hospital said she recognised the room immediately when she was shown the video.

She said: "I was there yesterday around 6pm for afternoon prayer. When I recognised the carpets and information on the wall, I realised 'I have just been in there'.

"I couldn't believe it. I found it really disrespectful. Like when you have been burgled ­— the feeling afterwards like you have been violated.

"Anyone is welcome to come in there but they should respect it.

"The Hindu temple shares an entrance and I have had a quick look but I wouldn't go in and deface anything.

"It's weird to me that people would do that and share it publicly, like it's something normal, it's not normal."

She pointed out the man in the video was wearing shoes and touching holy texts, which are both frowned upon by the faith.

The videos are less than 20 seconds long each and Greater Manchester Police confirmed this morning they are treating the incident as a hate crime.

Commenters to the videos suggest the man in the video works for the force however the police have said he is not employed by them in any capacity.

Imteyaz Ali from the Bolton Council of Mosques said: "It's a place of worship kindly provided by the hospital for all faiths, which should be respected.

"Now it's clearly a police matter and they should deal with it robustly."

Trish Armstrong-Child, director of nursing at Royal Bolton Hospital said: “We are saddened to learn that our facilities which form part of the religious and spiritual care we provide to our patients, visitors and staff have been misused in such a disrespectful manner.

"Our faith rooms are open to all 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and we would hope that they would be treated with respect by everyone who visits the hospital.

"Our multi-faith chaplaincy team and our security staff are aware of the incident and we will be working together to try and ensure our premises are used responsibly and respectfully by all."

Chief inspector John Charlton of GMP’s Bolton district said: “Those who think they can hide behind a keyboard and disseminate this kind of harmful material should expect to be investigated.

“Any type of hate crime will not be tolerated in Greater Manchester and we encourage anyone who has been a victim of or witnessed a hate crime to report it immediately.”

Report hate crime by calling police on 101, via the independent charity Crimestoppers, anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online via Truevision at report-it.org.uk online.