Police are diverting patrols over the coming weeks to protect the Jewish community over the High Holy days.

The period between Monday, September 29 and Thursday, October 9 is one of the most important in the Jewish religious calendar and Barnet police are taking extra measures to make the community feel safe.

Patrols will be diverted towards synagogues during holy days, there will be an extra patrol car on the streets and Met Police Special Constables will provide additional manpower.

Inspector Mike Carver, who is heading the operation, said: “This is a time when the community feels more vulnerable so we’re tailoring our patrols around the times of the various festivities.

“The Jewish community always has a certain vulnerability because of the risk of anti-Semitism. There’s a lot more people out on the streets so it presents more of a security risk.”

The operation will be running until Wednesday, October 22 to cover a number of religious holidays that will take place in the coming weeks.

But Insp Carver said that he is not expecting an increase in hate crimes during that period.

“It’s mostly a deterrent and to reassure people,” he said. “Anti-Semitism is not a big problem in the borough, but the threat of hate crime is always there against all sorts of people and we will deal with it when it comes up.”

The Community Security Trust (CST), which provides security to the Jewish community throughout the year, will be working with police and its security staff will also be manning events.

Mark Gardner, CST’s director of communications, said: “There’s not a higher threat this year than last year, but since 2000 there has been a relatively high number of anti-Semitic incidents throughout the year.

“The issue is that it’s the most sensitive time of year for the Jewish community and also the time when synagogue attendance is at its highest.

"There is a large number of people being visibly Jewish, which isn’t always the case. This is the time of year when it’s most important for us to do our work.”