Places of worship in England and Wales to benefit from a fresh round of funding from the Home Office to protect themselves against hate crime attacks. 

£1.6m is being made available to help churches, mosques and other places of worship cover the cost of installing security equipment like CCTV cameras, fencing, gates, alarms and lighting. 

Already this year, Home Office funding has supported the implementation of new security measures at 27 mosques, 13 churches, five gurdwaras and four Hindu temples - Jewish places of worship are cared for under a separate fund. 

The announcement of the funding on coincided with the one-year anniversary of the Christchurch terror attack on Sunday. 

The Government has already unveiled plans to double the amount being made available next year to £3.2m.

It has also launched a consultation asking faith groups for their views on what more can be done to protect them against hate crime attacks. The consultation will run for eight weeks. 

Minister for Countering Extremism Baroness Williams said: "No one should be fearful about practicing their faith. Whether it is a church, a mosque, gurdwara or temple, any place of worship should be a space of reflection and safety.

"The places of worship scheme provides that physical security. However, we can always do more, which is why we want to hear from worshipers about how we can better protect them from these terrible attacks."