The MP for a town where a Polish man was killed in a possible hate crime has declared that people who use the Brexit result to pursue their personal racist agendas "literally come from the sewers".

Arkadiusz Jozwik was attacked in Harlow, Essex, on Saturday night and died on Monday from head injuries.

The 40-year-old and another Polish man were set upon outside a row of takeaway shops in what Essex Police believe was an unprovoked attack at around 11.35pm.

Visiting the scene with Polish ambassador Arkady Rzegocki, MP Robert Halfon said: "I believe that the vast majority of people who voted to leave the EU did for noble reasons.

"I do have a view that a very small minority - and I stress that these kinds of awful things are done by a minority - it (the referendum) is being used by people who come from the sewers who want to exploit division and have their own racist agenda. They literally come from the sewers."

After the Brexit vote there was a spike in reported hate crimes, and incidents peaked on the day after the referendum.

There were 289 alleged offences across England, Wales and Northern Ireland on June 25 - equivalent to 12 every hour, police data shows.

More than 3,000 hate crimes and incidents were reported to forces around the country in the second half of June - a rise of 42% compared with the same period last year.

In Harlow, a number of locals will gather at the scene on Wednesday evening to show solidarity with the Polish community.

Jacek Gora, who owns a Polish shop in The Stow, has a Polish flag on his shop counter and is collecting signatures on it from people who knew Mr Jozwik in tribute.

He is also fundraising to help pay for funeral costs, and hopes to present the flag to the man's family.

"For everyone it's really strange, as he was the quietest person. If someone were to fight someone then okay, but he was really quiet.

"It was a surprise for everyone. He was a really good guy."

Mr Gora said he started collecting signatures on Tuesday night and dozens of people have already signed.

He added that "everyone" would go to the funeral on Saturday: "Everyone wants to help. All the Polish shops in the town centre are doing this."

He said he does not feel there is a particular problem with racism in the town.

"It was nearly midnight, everyone going back from pubs and clubs. Everyone is afraid about going home near midnight."

Asked to describe the community's reaction to what happened, he said: "It's not like we're angry about it. It's just strange as this situation shouldn't be. Everyone should be feeling safety everywhere going back home."

Jo Marie O'Reilly, who will attend the Stand Up To Racism vigil, said: "We wanted to do something to show our support for the Polish community within the town, who are all understandably quite shaken up by the event of Saturday.

"There has been a lot of talk from people in the community on social media, they are feeling uncomfortable and scared and worried about their future and about how they are going to be treated."

From 7pm on Wednesday there will be a 48-hour dispersal order implemented in a bid to keep potential trouble-makers away from the area.

Five 15-year-old boys and a 16-year-old who were arrested on suspicion of murder have been released on police bail until October 7.

A 43-year-old man, also from Harlow, was injured in the attack, and discharged from hospital after being treated for suspected hand fractures and bruising to his stomach.

Essex Police said one line of investigation is that it was a hate crime.

Based on the latest Office for National Statistics figures, Harlow currently has one of the highest concentrations of EU nationals from eastern Europe - roughly one in 17 residents.

This puts it in the top 30 local authorities in England and Wales with the greatest proportion of eastern European nationals per population.