RELIGIOUSLY motivated hate crimes reported in Bury soared by 150 per cent from 2013 to last year.

Police released figures on hate crime incidents in the borough to launch Hate Crime Awareness Week, which encourages victims to speak up.

The number of religious hate crimes reported rose from 18 to 45.

Overall, the total hate crime reports police received increased by 13 per cent from 199 in 2013 to 225 last year. In 2012, 203 were reported.

Reports of disability hate crimes trebled from three in 2013 to nine last year, while homophobic hate crimes rose nearly 44 per cent from 16 to 23 in the same period.

Police say the number of racially motivated hate crime reports increased from 167 in 2012 and 173 in 2013, to 175 last year.

Sgt Carolyn Jones, Bury division’s hate crime lead, said the rise reflected that victims felt more able to report the crimes, but she said there had been a rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes in 2014.

Sgt Jones said: “A rise in reports shows we are raising awareness and encouraging people to report these crimes.

“People need to understand that communities should not stand for bullying. This is something police take extremely seriously.”

Sgt Jones said hate crimes relating to religion and race are the most commonly reported in Bury, with the borough’s Muslim and Jewish communities often targeted.

There was one transgender hate crime reported in the borough last year, compared to none the year before and two in 2012.

Hate crime targeting alternative subcultures, such as goths, first began being recorded by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in 2013 and, while there were none in Bury that year, there were two in 2014.

Police in Bury are encouraging more victims targeted for their sexuality or a disability to speak out.

Last Monday, police visited the borough’s nine hate crime reporting centres – neutral locations where victims can report incidents to trained staff – to mark Hate Crime Awareness Week’s launch.

A Community Security Trust report has also revealed there were 309 anti-Semitic incidents reported in Greater Manchester in 2014 compared with 172 in 2013.

  • Report hate crime in Bury at: ADAB in Heywood Street (0161 764 6749); Bury Asian Women’s Group in South Cross Street (0161 762 5259); Bury Coalition for Independent Living in Seedfield Resource Centre (0161 253 6888); Bury People First in Fernhills Business Centre (0161 764 9840); Community Safety Team at Bury Town Hall (0161 253 6998); Jinnah Day Care Centre in Alfred Street (0161 763 3637); Six Town Housing headquarters in Knowsley Place (0161 686 8000); Victim Support and Witness Service in St Mary’s Place (0161 797 3043); and CST (0161 792 6666).

New centres are soon to open at Radcliffe Library in Stand Lane and at the Mosses Centre in Bury. To report a hate crime online visit the website at report-it.org.uk