41% increase in race or religious hate crimes recorded post-EU referendum

Race or religious hate crime jumped by more than two fifths in the wake of the EU referendum, official figures show.

The number of racially and religiously aggravated alleged offences recorded by police in July was 41% higher than in the same month last year.

It comes after a spike in reported incidents following the poll raised fears of a wave of xenophobic and racist abuse.

A Home Office report also showed that in 2015/16 the overall number of hate crimes logged by forces in England and Wales increased by 19%, with 62,518 offences recorded - a rate of around 170 every day.