SURREY Police have been supporting National Hate Crime Awareness Week in a bid to put an end to hate crime in the county.

The force is starting a conversation to create awareness and urge more people who have either been a victim or witnessed a hate crime to report it.

A hate crime is any crime targeted at a person because of a hostility or prejudice towards that person in relation to their disability, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender identity and can take many forms.

Last year in Surrey, 978 hate crimes were reported to police compared to 686 in 2014/15.

The Home Office suggests that the actual number of incidents could be almost four times this with the majority of hate crimes going un-reported.

The decision to leave the European Union on June 23 has already had a big impact, particularly in the alarming increase in the number of hate crimes reported to the police in the UK with more than 6,000 crimes reported in the UK just one month after Brexit was announced.

Surrey Police’s action Chief Superintendent Bex Smith, who is heading he drive against hate crimes, said: “As a force we take all reports of hate crime extremely seriously and are passionate about ending hate crime in all its forms in our communities.

“Everybody no matter what race, gender or sexual orientation has the right to live in a community where they feel safe and not where they are targeted for being different to others or because of their differing beliefs.

“Putting an end to hate crime starts with reporting it and we hope that through starting a conversation we can educate people and empower them to report incidents of hate crime to us.”

You can find more information on the new dedicated hate crime page on the Surrey Police website – search for hate crime at www.surrey.police.uk

If you have been a victim of a hate crime report it to police on 101 or online at www.report.police.uk.