The Community Security Trust (CST), which advises Britain’s estimated 300,000 Jews on safety issues, said it was the highest number it had recorded since it began collating figures in 1984.

Israel’s Gaza offensive against Hamas militants which was launched at the end of December was the main cause, it said, with many of the incidents taking place in January and including direct references to the fighting.

“British Jews are facing ever higher levels of racist attack and intimidation,” said Mark Gardner from the CST. “There is no excuse for anti-Semitism, racism and bias, and it is totally unacceptable that overseas conflicts should be impacting here in this way.”