BEACHGOERS played an unwitting part in a social experiment to see how people in Southend would react to a policeman telling a Muslim woman to remove her burkini.

More than 20 French towns have banned the swimwear this summer and police were photographed last week forcing a woman to remove the garment on a crowded beach.

As a result, actors from internet pranksters Trollstation visited City Beach and secretly filmed a scenario in which a male police officer approaches a lone woman and orders her to take off her burkini.

The officer tells the woman: “You're not allowed to wear it at the beach. You look like a terrorist. I'm afraid you're wearing it because you're oppressed.”

As families look on, the woman stands up and angrily replies: “I'm not going to take anything off. I'm allowed to wear whatever I want.

“How am I any different to anyone who's wearing anything else? This is racial profiling.

“You can't say this to me. I don't feel oppressed at all.”

The offer then grabs the woman's headdress, prompting about a dozen onlookers to become involved.

Echo:

Two women tell the officer: “You can't do that. It's not what terrorists wear.

“She's obviously a Muslim. Do not discriminate against her religion. You can't do that.”

The situation quickly becomes heated, to the point where the actors decide to bring the experiment to an early end.

Echo:

When the crowd are told it was just a prank, many of them exchange hugs with the actors.

The hidden cameraman then speaks to some of the group.

A woman in a grey headdress who filmed the set-up on her phone tells him: “My heart stopped beating. I'm so happy that it wasn't real. I'm going to cry.”

The social experiment was then uploaded to the group's YouTube channel where it has been viewed more than 120,000 times.