The three main faith leaders in Britain have warned against the growing amount of "racial hatred" in the wake of the EU referendum.

In a letter to The Times, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols, say that in times of uncertainty it is normal for people instinctively to crave the familiar.

But they say fear must not be allowed to breed mistrust of "the other".

"So many of the political, social and economic consequences of the result of the European Union referendum remain unknown but, in less than a week, increasing reports of intercommunal discord and racial hatred are cause for the gravest concern," they say.

Much lies outside individual control, but everyone can conquer their instinct to blame others.

The three leaders say: "Today we call upon every citizen of our great country to recognise personal accountability for their every action, rather than avoiding that responsibility by looking for scape-goats, and to challenge racial and communal prejudice wherever it is found and thus ensure that we are, more than ever, a country united."

Some reports have described a 57 per cent increase in racist abuse since the referendum.

The Prime Minister David Cameron condemned it, saying: "In the past few days we have seen despicable graffiti daubed on a Polish community centre, we've seen verbal abuse hurled against individuals because they are members of ethnic minorities.

"Let's remember these people have come here and made a wonderful contribution to our country. We will not stand for hate crime or these kinds of attacks, they must be stamped out."