Kent’s police and crime commissioner Matthew Scott says he was ‘utterly appalled’ by the suspected attacks on three mosques in the county.

In a forthright statement condemning the incidents, he vowed to do what he could to unite the community to take on those who perpetrated racially-motivated attacks.

“I was utterly appalled to learn that three of our mosques had been targeted in this way.

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"Let me be clear: incidents like this are as cowardly as they are terrible. We must not allow a small number of people to succeed in trying to divide us on the grounds of hate. The community must stand together against hatred.”

“I have been liaising with the police and reaching out to the community to make sure they know they have my full support and I will continue to provide extra support to the victims of crime and we work together for a safe, fair and tolerant society.”

Police are investigating three separate incidents involving suspicious packages and letters sent to mosques in Canterbury, Maidstone and Gravesend.

Letters containing white powder were sent to two of the mosques but the substance in each was later found to be harmless.

Gurvinder Sandher of the Kent Cohesion Equality Council also condemned the attacks.

“Kent is a very tolerant county and there has been tremendous amount of work to foster good race relations here.

"The evidence speaks for itself; generally we have very good race relations. I am really pleased with the pro-active response from Kent Police and the positive messages from the crime commissioner. It is important people realise that we are not going to be divided by extremists who are trying to create discord in Kent.”

A rise in the number of hate crimes was partly because people felt more comfortable reporting incidents, he added.

Statistics indicate the number of hate crimes in the county rises. In 2016-17, police recorded 902 such crimes in Kent - up from 696 the year before.

Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant has also condemned the attacks.

In a tweet she said: "I utterly deplore the cowardly attacks upon mosques in Kent.

"I know that the people of Maidstone will unite against this vicious bigotry and support our friends at Maidstone Mosque."