Staff at Bath & North East Somerset Council have been subject to ‘racist and xenophobic’ abuse since the outcome of the EU referendum, the council leader has said.
The council has issued a statement condemning the ‘appalling’ behaviour following reports its staff have been victims of verbal attacks in the past week.
Council leader, cllr Tim Warren, said: ‘The council condemns these appalling acts and is keen to stress that discrimination of any kind will absolutely not be tolerated.
‘These narrow-minded views do not represent those of the council or the vast majority of our residents. We firmly believe that these small-minded views are held by a small minority. We have a zero-tolerance approach to all abuse and will work with the police to ensure such incidents are thoroughly investigated and offenders are dealt with robustly.’
Councils across the county have pledged to tackle hate crime in the wake of the Brexit vote, with many passing special motions to publicly condemn racism and xenophobia.
Huntingdonshire District Council, Corby Council, Suffolk County Council, and Waltham Forest Council are just a few that approved emergency motions in the past week.