Police investigating racist threats against staff at former cricketer Azeem Rafiq’s Barnsley chip shop

Officers were called to the chip shop on Friday evening after receiving reports of a man believed to have been under the influence of alcohol shouting and making threats towards staff in Barnsley at around 5.55pm.

The man left the premises in the direction of the town centre and did not return.

Enquiries are continuing into the incident and the Barnsley Central Neighbourhood Policing Team said today they were pro-actively seeking to identify the offender.

South Yorkshire Police’s Barnsley district acting chief inspector, Rebecca Richardson, said: “We take all allegations of this nature very seriously and are working to identify the offender in this case, which is being treated as racially aggravated public order.

“If anybody saw or heard anything that might help with this investigation please get in touch.”

The abuse came several days after Mr Rafiq hit the headlines when he revealed the racist abuse he had experienced while he was a player at Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he expects Yorkshire and the England and Wales Cricket Board to take “immediate action” following the “brave testimony” of Mr Rafiq, who gave an account of his harrowing experiences of racism to MPs on Tuesday morning.

Yorkshire County Cricket Club chairman Roger Hutton has resigned over the scandal.

Anyone with information about the chip shop incident should call South Yorkshire Police on 101 and quote incident number 762 of November 12.