AN MP has appealed for calm after graffiti was daubed on walls urging people to Avenge USA - Kill a Muslim Now.

The slogan was daubed in red letters on a wall yards from a mosque in the heart of a Muslim community.

It follows a spate of racist incidents in South Shields, South Tyneside, in what are believed to be revenge attacks for the massacre in the US.

Community leaders condemned the graffiti and Labour MP David Miliband urged the community to unite to prevent the outrage from turning to hatred.

South Tyneside's police chief, Superintendent Dave Crosthwaite, warned yesterday that the full force of the law would be used to combat racially-motivated crimes against the borough's Muslims.