A WOMAN was abused during a racial attack in a North Yorkshire town.

The incident happened at around 3.30pm on Monday (May 30), when a man racially abused a woman in her 30s and made threats of violence towards her in Selby town centre.

The suspect is described as a white man aged in his 40s. He had short grey hair and was wearing a tracksuit top and jeans. He had tattoos on his arm and was wearing a silver watch and a silver bracelet, North Yorkshire Police said.

Shortly after this incident at 5pm, a man with a similar description was reported to be acting suspiciously occurred outside Sainsburys in Selby. Police are investigating if these two incidents are linked.

Inspector Martin Wedgwood, from the Selby Neighbourhood policing team, said: “I would like to stress that North Yorkshire Police take all reports of hate crime extremely seriously.

“We will do everything we can to investigate this incident, identify the suspect and where appropriate take robust action.”

Police are asking for any members of the public who witnessed either incident to come forward - and call North Yorkshire Police on 101.

Please quote reference number: 12220092910 for the post office incident, but quote reference number: 1220092958 for the Sainsburys incident.