A Croydon student has become an internet sensation after posting video mocking the reported spike in racist behaviour following last week's Brexit vote.

Just hours after it emerged on Friday the country had voted to leave the EU, 20-year-old Nalin Dissanayake filmed himself walking nervously down the street with his British passport clutched prominently in his hand.

The video's caption read: "Have to take safety precautions now when leaving the house."

Mr Dissanayake initially posted the tongue-in-cheek clip to Snapchat, but got such a good reaction from friends he decided to share it publicly on Facebook, where it has since been viewed more than 750,000 times.

He said: "I was out getting a blood test and I took my passport out with me for ID, and the idea just popped into my head.

"I guess a lot of people can relate to it. They can understand what it means".

Police forces across the country have reported a spike in racially motivated crime since Britain voted to leave the European Union.

Xenophobic graffiti was found daubed on a Polish community centre in west London in the days following the vote, while today the Muslim Association of Croydon warned ethnic minorities to “stay vigilant".

Mr Dissanayake, who grew up in Thornton Heath and attended Oasis Academy in Coulson, said he had not personally experienced any racism since the referendum.

But the theatre student agreed there had been an "uncomfortable" atmosphere for people of ethnic minorities following the Brexit vote, adding: "Going into an NHS hospital [on Friday morning], there was the weirdest feeling in the air.

"A lot of the nurses, who were European, were just keeping themselves to themselves."

RELATED: 'Stay vigilant and take precautions' Croydon Muslims told amid spike in hate crime after Brexit

Mr Dissanayake's decision to film himself assuring passersby of his Britishness came in the wake of a referendum campaign during which the leave side were repeatedly accused of promoting anti-immigrant sentiment.

At one point in the clip, Mr Dissanayake self-consciously kisses his passport as he looks around to see who might be watching him.

One commenter on Facebook said the student had "struck a chord" with the video.

Mr Dissanayake, who now lives in Hendon and studies at Middlesex University, said he was not sure whether there had been an increase in racism since the Brexit vote.

But he added: "It's been easier to spot these kind of incidents because people are looking out for it more. There's been structural racism in England throughout history but now people are looking at it more clearly.

"It's just nice for people to laugh [at the video], but there is a point, like, 'This is all a bit stupid, come on.'"

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