A CHURCH has launched a drive to counter the rise in racist and xenophobic attacks following the EU Referendum by baking cakes and biscuits for foreign nationals.

Holy Trinity Church, in Ripon, has urged its congregation to take home-baked products to foreign members of the community after police said nation-wide number of hate crimes recorded for the last two weeks in June spiked by 42 per cent over the same period last year.

Church leaders said the baked goods were designed as "a gesture of peace and hospitality".

Church member Dan Metcalfe said while there did not appear to be an issue in the area, it was important to confront the "residue" of racism elsewhere in the country.

He said: "There has been reports of a rise in racist and xenophobic behaviour and it's not something I want my country to look like.

"With baking being something we are particularly good at in our community and in our church we thought we would use those skills to break down some barriers in the community.

"There's a great tradition in Britain of a cup of tea and a piece of cake, and a conversation that goes with that. We were hoping that people take this on board, bake a cake, make some biscuits and go round to a neighbour and introduce themselves, and use it as a handshake, a bit of an ice-breaker to get a conversation going and, hopefully, break down some barriers."

"It's been taken very well, I've had some very good stories come out of it. We've been to some of the schools in Ripon and the response has been very good."