Hundreds of people reporting hate crimes in Calderdale

The figures come as Stop Hate UK has launched the Call Hate Out service which now operates across West and South Yorkshire and provides advice and support for young people who have been a target or witnessed hate crime.

The launch comes as latest figures reveal there were 7.923 hate crime offences recorded by West Yorkshire Police during 2018.

Of the 7,923 offences, 3061 were recorded in Leeds, 2070 in Bradford,1225 in Kirklees, 907 in Wakefield and 660 in Calderdale.

Chief Executive of Stop Hate UK, Rose Simkins said: "This is a long-term commitment from Stop Hate UK and we hope it will help more young people to get the support and advice they need.

"Hate Crime can happen anywhere and we know that there has been a big increase in online hate, so Call Hate Out will provide young people with all the relevant online methods and platforms to report hate crime and get the help they need.

"Our long term vision for Call Hate Out is to add even more resources to support and grow this vital work."

A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person's disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity

Ms Simkins says Stop Hate UK's aim is to make as many people aware of the new helpline in the coming weeks.

She said: "Gradually we are getting more people to know about the new help line and so far it has been very warmly welcomed. If professionals are seeing it as being useful to support young people then that is really positive news already."

The helpline has been made possible thanks to the charity's Building a Stronger Britain Together (BSBT) project which works in partnership with The National Holocaust Centre to educate schools about the Holocaust and how to tackle anti-Semitism in society today.