Police in Westminster are appealing for witnesses and information following a hate crime assault.

At approximately 08:15hrs on Tuesday, 4 October, the victim, a woman aged in her 40s, was walking alone on Oxford Street (Marble Arch end) when she was approached by man who repeatedly told her to remove her hijab.

The woman refused. The man then became more aggressive and grabbed the woman’s headscarf and attempted to remove it by force. The man managed to unpin the scarf but did not succeed in removing it.

The woman managed to get away and the man made off towards Marble Arch.

The victim was not injured but was shocked and distressed by the incident. This incident is being treated as an Islamophobic hate crime.

The suspect is described as a white man, aged between 30-40 years, with short black greased back hair. He was approximately 5ft 5ins tall and of medium build. He was wearing a grey sweatshirt and light blue jeans.

CCTV enquiries are ongoing.

Detective Sergeant Steve Stamp of Westminster’s Community Safety Unit said: “This was an unprovoked and hate filled attack in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street. The woman was targeted by this suspect purely based on what she was wearing.

Racially and religiously motivated crimes will not be tolerated I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this attack to contact police. ”

Anyone with information is asked to contact Westminster Police via 101 or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.