Two London mosques have been targeted with Islamophobic letters, with one saying the writer could “not stop smiling” after seeing footage of the Turkey-Syria earthquakes.

Erkin Guney, chairman of the Masjid Ramadan mosque in Shacklewell Lane in Hackney, received a letter saying “I am only sincerely sorry that more Muslims didn’t die”.

The letter, which has circulated online, cruelly stated that “there should have been at least 2 million dead” and that the “more Muslims that suffer the better”.

Another mosque in Stoke Newington, the Aziziye Mosque, reports that it has also received a similar letter with hateful comments.

Metropolitan Police have said: "On 15 February, police received a report of a letter sent to two mosques in Hackney containing racist and Islamophobic language.

“Enquiries are ongoing. There has been no arrest."

The letter targeting Masjid Ramadan continued: “This has got to be the best news anyone who hates Muslims as much as I do could ever hear about. It’s simply fantastic.”

It concluded: “I hope you all rot in hell.”

The death toll from the Turkey-Syria disaster has passed 45,000.

Mr Guney told the Evening Standard that receiving the letter had turned his stomach and added: “I’m still sick in my stomach that someone should be sending us a letter at a time of such a tragic situation.”

Ebu Bekir Tezgel, a senior Imam at the Aziziye Mosque in Stoke Newington, called their letter a “unacceptable” and “disgusting” hate crime.

Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville and Cllr Susan Fajana Thomas have slammed the incident in a joint statement.

They said: “This doesn’t reflect the community spirit that exists in the borough or the sense of shock and heartbreak at the tragic scenes that we have seen in Turkey and Syria following the earthquake.”

The statement continued: “We must not let the kind of hatred contained in the letters cloud the support the people of this area need from us and the rest of the world at this moment.”