3,000 hate crimes logged in first half of July

More than 3,000 hate crimes and incidents were reported to police in the first half of July - a jump of a fifth compared to last year.

It takes the number logged in four weeks from the middle of last month past 6,000 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

A spate of reports in the wake of the EU referendum on June 23 sparked fears of a wave of xenophobic and racial abuse.

New figures show a slight fall this month after an initial spike in the wake of the vote - but the volume was still well above the level seen over the same period in 2015.

From July 1 to July 14 there were 3,001 alleged hate crimes and incidents reported to police forces in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - equivalent to more than 200 every day.

The total was a decrease of 191, or 6%, on the previous fortnight, but a 20% rise compared to the equivalent period in 2015.

The National Police Chiefs' Council, which compiled the data, also revised up the tally for the second half of June, from 3,076, to 3,192.

It was previously revealed that the daily rate peaked at 289 reports on June 25 - the day after the result of the referendum was announced.

The main type of offence reported over the month was "violence against the person", which includes harassment and common assault, as well as verbal abuse, spitting and "barging". Public order offences and criminal damage were the second and third most common incidents respectively.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, NPCC lead for hate crime, said: "Following increases in hate crime seen after the EU referendum, police forces have been taking a robust approach to these crimes and we are pleased to see the numbers of incidents have begun to fall.

"Clearly any hate crime is unacceptable and these numbers are still far too high.

"We remain to committed to helping people feel safe and secure about being themselves as they go about their lives so police officers will continue to be out around the country engaging with communities and picking up and dealing with tensions and problems."