Police Crime Commissioner visits Bolton mosque which was daubed with racist graffiti

Police were called to the Masjid-E-Usman Mosque in Astley Street, Halliwell, just hours after the Drummer Lee Rigby was killed in Woolwich.

Mr Lloyd thanked members of the mosque for not reacting to the comments at Friday prayers.

He said: “The mosque stands exactly where I stand on this and they deplored with me the murder of Lee Rigby.

“The response of the extremists is trying to provoke division within our community by scrawling on the mosque.

“Their reaction is that it is not going to be tolerated and will not divide the community.”

The graffiti was quickly removed last week and it is thought to be an isolated incident.

Police patrols were stepped up around mosques in Bolton in the days after Drummer Rigby’s death.

Cllr Mudasir Dean, shadow spokesman for community cohesion on Bolton Council, said: “Bolton is an extremely friendly town with a very diverse but cohesive community.

“The community of Bolton stands together against any form of extremism. I believe this was a one off isolated incident.”

It came as Drummer Rigby’s family called for calm.

In a statement, his family said his friends' different cultures and religions "made no difference to Lee".

The family's plea came amid reports of a sharp rise in anti-Muslim incidents since the incident.

The EDL and anti-facist group the UAF have also been holding protests across the country.

In a statement, Drummer Rigby's family said: "Lee would not want people to use his name as an excuse to carry out attacks against others.

"We would not wish any other families to go through this harrowing experience and appeal to everyone to keep calm and show their respect in a peaceful manner."

Bolton Council of Mosques “unreservedly” condemned Drummer Rigby’s death, branding it “barbaric” with “no basis in Islam”.

It called on all communities — Muslim and non-Muslim — “to come together in solidarity to ensure the forces of hatred do not prevail”.