THE HERO Imam from the Finsbury Park terror attack has accused the “lacklustre” government of being “in denial on Islamophobia”.

Mohammed Mahmoud, who stood between a mob and Darren Osborne – who had driven his van into a crowd of worshippers - accused ministers of failing the “vulnerable” Muslim community as hate crime is on the rise.

In his first public comments since the incident in June last year, he called for an independent inquiry into allegations of anti-Muslim hatred by Tory party members.

The imam, writing in the Evening Standard, said: “Any community hit by terrorism should see meaningful engagement from the Government.

But we’re still waiting for that to happen — which is not lost on a community that still feels vulnerable.

“It is made more urgent as Islamophobia no longer simmers under the surface of the fringes of society.

“My own congregation are increasingly reporting Islamophobic abuse, from having their headscarves removed to facing racist chants.”

It comes as official figures show such incidents are on the rise, with more than 700 reported to the Met police so far this year.

Mr Mahmoud was praised around the world for the way he responded to the murderous attack on his congregation in North London, in which Makram Ali was killed and 12 others were injured.

Mr Osborne, who had been radicalised by the far-right online, was jailed for life in February, but a year on, Mr Mahmoud said not enough is being done to tackle hate crimes against Muslims.

He writes: “Recently Muslims around the country received ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ letters, awarding points for inflicting maximum injury to British Muslims.

“Nearly all Muslim MPs received suspect packages as part of this campaign.

“Yet, despite the rising scale and severity of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred, the response from the Government has been lacklustre, or worse, in denial.”

The Muslim Council of Britain has called for an independent inquiry into alleged Islamophobia in the Conservatives, which its former co-chairwoman Baroness Warsi has also demanded.

In response a spokesman for the Tories said: “The party takes all allegations of discrimination extremely seriously and has a clear and fully transparent process to investigate complaints made to it under the party’s code of conduct.”

And a Government spokesman said: “We’re working closely with the survivors of the Finsbury Park terror attack, including holding meetings last week. A further meeting is planned next month.

“We have taken strong action to stamp out anti-Muslim hatred including funding Tell MAMA to record incidents and support victims, and committing £3.4m to provide protective security funding for places of worship, including mosques.

“Later this year we will publish the refreshed Hate Crime Action Plan, which will set out further ways to tackle these completely intolerable crimes.”