A Polish man was beaten up over the weekend in Leeds, Yorkshire, in the 18th attack on the Polish community on the British isles since the Brexit referendum.

The latest attack happened on Friday night, but was not reported until Sunday.

A group of 30 youths attacked two men, and severely beat up one of the them, in the district of Armley in the west of Leeds.

Local media reported that the man is still being treated in hospital but his injuries are not life threatening.

Interior Minister Mariusz Błaszczak told Poland’s TVP broadcaster that British police detained one man as part of the investigation, and is looking for more information that will help determine the exact course of events.

Police are treating the attack as a xenophobic crime.

The attack – the 18th such incident against the Polish minority in the UK following the Brexit referendum – came just hours after British Prime Minister Theresa May assured her Polish counterpart Beata Szydło over the telephone that “there is no place for crimes motivated by hate" in British society.

In recent weeks, at least four Poles were brutally beaten in the town of Harlow in southeastern England, with one man dying from his injuries. (rg)