Police were today appealing for witnesses after a group of schoolchildren were racially abused and spat at in Stoke Newington.

The alleged incident happened at 6.30pm on March 11 as two 12-year-old boys and a 13-year-old girl walked down Clissold Road. The driver racially abused the group, who are black, before spitting out of the window at them and driving off, cops said. A woman was also in the car.

Detectives from Hackney’s community safety unit are treating the incident as a hate crime. Det Const David Leitner said: “This was a shocking incident that has left the victims extremely shaken – the fact that this racial abuse was directed at children makes the offence all the more abhorrent. I would also ask people who saw a car, described as a white Volvo saloon, driving in the vicinity of Clissold Park to get in touch: you may hold a vital bit of evidence that could assist us in identifying the person responsible.”

Police want to trace a man in his 30s of Mediterranean appearance with black hair. Call 101 with information.