Number of recorded hate crimes rose by 41 per cent in Essex between July and September

New figures for England and Wales show Essex Police received 376 reports of hate crime during that period.

The county was ranked 13th out of 44 for the rise in reports compared with April to June 2016.

The percentage increase is above the national average, as reports rose by an average of 27 per cent across England and Wales.

The full list is as follows:

• Dorset 104 (up 100%)
• Nottinghamshire 189 (up 75%)
• North Yorkshire 64 (up 68%)
• West Mercia 247 (up 64%)
• Devon and Cornwall 220 (up 63%)
• Leicestershire 213 (up 60%)
• Kent 277 (up 60%)
• Lincolnshire 78 (up 59%)
• Humberside 140 (up 57%)
• Dyfed-Powys 35 (up 52%)
• Northumbria 394 (up 48%)
• West Yorkshire 1,013 (up 46%)
• Essex 376 (up 41%)
• Wiltshire 134 (up 38%)
• Suffolk 123 (up 37%)
• British Transport Police 620 (up 34%)
• Hampshire 463 (up 33%)
• Sussex 385 (up 32%)
• Hertfordshire 266 (up 30%)
• Cleveland 159 (up 29%)
• West Midlands 923 (up 27%)
• Norfolk 130 (up 25%)
• Gwent 77 (up 22%)
• North Wales 56 (up 22%)
• Lancashire 128 (up 21%)
• Metropolitan Police 3,356 (up 20%)
• Thames Valley 286 (up 20%)
• Avon and Somerset 449 (up 19%)
• Merseyside 477 (up 19%)
• Greater Manchester 1,033 (up 19%)
• Cheshire 195 (up 18%)
• Durham 66 (up 16%)
• Cumbria 50 (up 14%)
• South Wales 276 (up 10%)
• Cambridgeshire 179 (up 9%)
• Derbyshire 117 (up 8%)
• Staffordshire 237 (up 6%)
• Warwickshire 106 (up 6%)
• Bedfordshire 133 (up 6%)
• Northamptonshire 79 (up 4%)
• South Yorkshire 225 (down 1%)
• Gloucestershire 55 (down 4%)
• Surrey 137 (down 7%)
• City of London 25 (down 7%)

Police forces in England and Wales can class five types of racially or religiously aggravated offences as hate crimes:

• assault with injury
• assault without injury
• harassment
• public fear
• alarm or distress
• other criminal damage.

Forces can decide to identify other types of offences as hate crimes meaning the overall total could be higher.