A YOUNG Muslim woman telephoned the BBC yesterday to explain how she felt about the London bombings.

She said she could not step out of her home and go to the shop because she wore traditional Islamic dress and was afraid of public reaction.

"I'm too embarrassed to even go out to buy a loaf of bread," she said.

How terribly sad. She is one of the vast majority of law-abiding Muslim people who view the terrorist atrocity in the capital with the same disgust as we do.

And part of our response to the bombings must be to demonstrate an understanding that those who planted the explosives do not have the support of ordinary Muslims.

Those responsible are a tiny minority of extremists who want to create hate and division and who do not care if their victims are Christian or Muslim, black or white, young or old.

We all have a duty to ensure that ethnic minorities are not alienated in this country, not only because that is right but because it will help ensure the bombers are defeated through effective intelligence.

We must make sure that no-one feels too ashamed to go out to buy a loaf of bread just because they are wearing clothes that are different to ours.