Walden's highest-ranked football club called for more to be done to combat online abuse.

Saffron Walden Town FC (SWTFC) chiefs boycotted social media between 3pm on April 30 and 11.59pm on Monday, May 3, joining a campaign against abuse and discrimination.

Social media accounts throughout Britain's sporting community including Premier League football clubs went silent.

They want platforms like Facebook and Twitter to be more proactive in stamping out abusive behaviour online.

Fiona Mackay, who leads SWTFC's social media, said: "It's important for the next generation of footballers to talk about anti-racism to stop further abuse and hate happening in the future.

"It's a topic which isn't spoken about as much as it needs to be.

"It's simply unacceptable that people across the sporting communities are subject to online abuse, and mostly nothing is done.

"This needs to change and we as a club will do everything we can to help and support this cause."