POLICE chief John Donlon has warned he will not tolerate racists in Wycombe, following a number of attacks on the Muslim community.

There has been a small increase in reported racial incidents in Wycombe following the terrorist attacks on America and a number of other incidents have happened which were not reported to police.

Earlier this month Azra Khan said she was approached in the street by a man waving a newspaper and screaming 'terrorist.'

Other Muslims this week have told of abuse they have faced at the hands of a few extremists.

Police have launched a round the clock hotline for incidents of racial abuse to be reported. Area Commander for Chiltern Vale police, John Donlon, gave a firm message to those carrying out such offences.

He said: "Firstly I want to reassure everyone that we at Wycombe are taking this extremely seriously.

"We are carrying out intelligence and making risk assessments every day. We want to ensure we are up-to-date on any events, through urging those in the community to report any incidents to us or to the racial incidents group."

Wycombe Racial Incidents Group released a statement this week to say that there had been 'a small number of incidents' directly related to the terrorist attacks on the US.

Chauhdry Shafique, vice-chair of the group, told the Community Forum on Tuesday of a chilling suspected racist phone call made to his house not long after the terrorist attack in America.

He said: "I had a phone call from someone with an American accent trying to tell me I had won a prize in a competition.

"They told me they had a key for a car waiting for me to collect."

He added: "When I told her I hadn't entered any competition and she realised she wouldn't get what she wanted she unleashed a mouthful of abuse saying 'I will get you'.

"It cannot make sense to anyone with a sense of fairness to brand everyone in the Muslim community or otherwise through the actions of one person."

Shazia Sarwar, from the Asian Professional Womens' Organisation, said she had heard a number of reports of women in Muslim dress being verbally abused and in one frightening case nearly being run down by a car.

She said: "The women were walking up Hughenden Road when a car mounted the pavement and they had to run out of the way to prevent being hit."

She said they had several reports of women having verbal abuse shouted at them and one woman even had her traditional headdress pulled.

She said: "Some Asian women are too scared to go out into town. They are frightened even to go out."

Mick Doyle, superintendent for crime and operations, said: "All incidents will be investigated and by reporting them we can monitor any raising of tension in the community."

Ranjit Dheer, director of Wycombe Racial Equality Council, said that he was shocked and distressed to hear of the attacks in Wycombe.

He added: "We have heard about women being attacked and I think that is sad. The phone call Shafique received was frightening. He was lured to go out and he could have been attacked."

But he added: "By and large, apart from a few idiots, most people can make a distinction between the atrocity committed against America and the Muslim community here who have done nothing and we would like to pay tribute to the decency displayed by the majority of the public."

Committing an act of racial hatred is against the law: Racial hatred is defined as 'hatred against a group of persons in Great Britain defined by reference to colour, race, nationality or ethnic or national origins'.