London, June 26: Asian immigrants and their descendants are being stopped in the street and ordered to leave Britain in the wake of the "divisive and xenophobic" Brexit campaign, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a former co-chairman of the Conservative Party, said today.

Warsi was born in Britain from Pakistani parents. She claimed she had switched her allegiance from Leave to Remain because of the "lies and hate" that were being spread by pro-Brexit politicians.

Her enemies mocked her by saying they were unaware she had ever been part of the Brexit lobby.

She told a TV programme today that she wanted a "genuine liberal, open-minded outward looking" politician as party leader, and would back Scottish Conservative Ruth Davidson for the top job if she would stand.

Pressed on who she thinks will succeed David Cameron, she said there were people fighting the Leave campaign who "would be wrong for Britain right now", but refused to name names. But clearly she was referring to Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.

The Tory peer warned that the scars left by the EU referendum campaign could be seen in the streets of the country, and urged Brexit backers to speak out to reassure the nation.

She said: "I also want them to come out and say that the campaigning was divisive and was xenophobic and give a commitment that future campaigning and the way that they intend to run this country will be united, will make people from all backgrounds feel like they belong.

"I've spent most of the weekend talking to organisations, individuals and activists who work in the area of race hate crime, who monitor hate crime, and they have shown some really disturbing early results from people being stopped in the street and saying look, we voted Leave, it's time for you to leave.

"And they are saying this to individuals and families who have been here for three, four, five generations. The atmosphere on the street is not good. This is what I said before the campaign - that long after the political bus moves on we leave problems on our street.

"So it is important for politicians to come out right now, talk about the vision that they have for the country, a united country and then take that forward for a positive vision of this country which is both stable and secure."

Davidson was widely seen as one of the star performers for the Remain side in the EU referendum and she is known not to be a fan of Boris Johnson, the bookies' favourite to take over the top job. But she cannot stand because she is not a member of parliament.

Warsi named business secretary Sajid Javid as another possible contender but appeared to rule out Gove, who is the justice secretary.

"I'm not even sure Michael's in the running." She said. "He is certainly not a name that has been put forward and my own instinct is that Michael is not likely to want to be Prime Minister."

Meanwhile police have launched an investigation after laminated cards were posted through the letterboxes of Polish residents in Cambridgeshire.

The cards read: "Leave the EU. No more Polish vermin."

Another card, written in Polish, translated to: "Go home Polish scum."

Inspector Nick Percival said the police were "aware" of the cards, which were discovered on Friday morning following the Brexit vote, and that officers are currently investigating.

More than 54 per cent of voters in Cambridgeshire market town opted for Brexit, while just over 45 per cent opted to stay in the EU.