ANTI-RACISM campaigners have demanded Muslim worshippers receive support “based on risk, not bureaucracy” following warnings that mosques are “waiting months” to receive promised funding for security.

Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) demanded the government deploy the same level of protections for Muslim places of worship as Jewish ones.

SUTR said allocations for synagogues are made based on “continuous assessment of risk and need” whereas other religious centres are still expected to go through “a traditional application process.”

Muslim places of worship have seen 70 attacks in the 12 months to July, which included vandalism and intimidation, the British Muslim Trust (BMT) said.

The trust’s records of Islamophobic hate incidents included an arson attack at Peacehaven Mosque, East Sussex, in October and bacon being left at a mosque in Bristol during Friday prayers in the first week of Ramadan last February.

Other incidents included “online abuse,” which the BMT said occurred in some cases where communities shared their reactions on social media to attacks which had already taken place.

These were met with death threats and encouragement of further racist attacks.

BMT chief executive Akeela Ahmed suggested the £40 million in dedicated funding should be devolved from the Home Office to local areas, potentially through mayoral authorities.

“We are seeing a steady rise in the number of attacks against mosques and we believe the government should be doing everything it can to help mosques protect themselves,” she said.

“A mosque is vulnerable purely because it’s a mosque. They’re waiting for months, while living in fear of another attack, because of the backlog.

“Asking for evidence that you’re being targeted is the equivalent of shutting the stable door when the horse has bolted.”

SUTR co-convener Sabby Dhalu told the Morning Star: “Islamophobic attacks on mosques and Muslim communities are on the rise, just as antisemitic attacks and racist attacks more broadly continue to increase.

“It is vital that places of worship receive the support they need quickly and effectively.

“When synagogues require security funding, allocations are generally made on the basis of a continuous assessment of risk and need, rather than through a traditional application process.

“Mosques and Muslim communities deserve exactly the same approach. Protection should be based on risk, not bureaucracy.”

The government has said it is “working to process all applications as quickly as possible.”