Hawzah News Agency - A Muslim woman has spoken out after she was the victim of vile racist abuse while she was shopping with her little sister at Asda.
Maria, who is in her late 20s, visited the supermarket at Barons Quay, Northwich, with her sister on December 5.
As she went towards the entrance to pick up a basket, a group of people walked in and looked at her.
Maria, who was wearing a hijab, said one of them then "jolted away" and shouted "there's a walking bomb, run" before the group fled further into the store.
She shouted back at them: "You're a coward! You're a coward for disrespecting women like that and religion! Why don't you come back?!"
Speaking to Cheshire Live, Maria said: "The situation humiliated both me and my sister, no one helped/interjected, or checked if we were okay.
"Unfortunately, whilst living in Northwich I’ve previously experienced racist comments and let them go to avoid confrontation, but here, as I was with my younger sister and in such a public environment, I knew I couldn’t let this go, so went to inform security."
She went to the guard stationed by the entrance of the store to tell him what had happened and he said he would look into it.
But after seeing the culprits still inside the store, Maria went back to the guard to point them out and two of the group were removed from the premises.
Maria said: "I respectfully thank the particular security guard for he had kicked out two of them. On leaving, I went and thanked him for doing as I asked. I really appreciated that he took it seriously."
The artist, who lives in Northwich, was born in the UK and moved to the town more than 20 years ago where she has "experienced a lot over the years".
She added: "I remember so many awful accounts of racial abuse and harassment upon first moving here for many years, incidents such as verbal abuse, ridicule, egging of the house and intimidation just to name a few.
"To still experience horrifying comments even now is disappointing which is an under-statement. Tolerance is not reserved for a particular group of people, it is for all, regardless of race, religion or colour of skin."
Asked what needs to be done to tackle this kind of racism, she said: "When situations like this arise, people need to be encouraged to stand up in defense together as one and support in order to stop this type of harassment and racism.
"Instead of teaching our children to not get involved in incidents where injustices occur, from what you think might look terrifying, educate them and allow them to grow up with an understanding and respect for people of other faiths, so it doesn't result in a child being picked on for their beliefs in school, as well as people out and about in their community."
A spokesperson from Asda said: "We take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and do not condone any kind of abusive behavior. We're really sorry the customer had to experience this kind of treatment from another shopper in our store.
"We know our security colleague intervened in the incident and did the right thing by ensuring the shopper was escorted off the premises."
Officers at Cheshire Constabulary are investigating the incident and have released CCTV images of two men they want to speak to as part of their enquiries.