Arrests over racist Nottingham Trent University halls chants

Two men have been arrested after a video of racist slurs being shouted in university accommodation emerged.

Rufaro Chisango tweeted the video of the abuse which apparently included "we hate the blacks" while locked in her room at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) halls of residence on Wednesday.

NTU has suspended the "suspected perpetrators" pending inquiries.

Two 18-year-old men have been arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order offences.

Miss Chisango, who filmed the chanting on Monday evening, tweeted: "yoo I'm fuming, the way people in the same uni halls as me are chanting 'we hate the blacks' outside my bedroom door.

"Words cannot describe how sad this makes me feel, in this 2018 people think this is still acceptable."

She told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme she "felt really shocked, isolated and uncomfortable" when she heard the "shouting outside my door".

"It was a big impact obviously, when it happened. It shouldn't be tolerated at all."

Miss Chisango had reported the abuse to the university halls of residence reception on Tuesday, but the NTU was only informed on Wednesday.

She said: "It shouldn't have [taken] such a long delay when I reported something like this.

"I just want the appropriate action to be taken."

NTU said it was "shocked and appalled" to see the video and was investigating "as a matter of urgency".

"We are also working with our accommodation partner to understand why the university was only alerted to this on Wednesday evening after this was reported to them in the very early hours of Tuesday.

Nottinghamshire Police said: "We treat hate crime as a priority."

Labour MP for Tottenham David Lammy said: "My heart breaks for this young woman and I have the utmost respect for her bravery in speaking out."

Ilyas Nagdee, 23, National Union of Students officer representing students of African, Arab, Asian and Caribbean descent, said these experiences are "common".

"We've seen examples of incidents like the racist writing on bananas at Warwick, the Confederate flag at Manchester and now shouting through the door in Nottingham.

"These are just the stories that go viral over social media. But unfortunately this is the day-to-day experience of students of colour across the country and it has been going on for decades.

"I'm contacted at least a couple of times a week by students asking me for help after experiencing racism."