Hampshire police say hate crime has '˜not spiked' with about 50 incidents reported a week

HATE crimes have not increased in the wake of the EU referendum, Hampshire police has said.
Graffiti showing 'UKIP' and 'DIRTY POLISH' spray-painted on the wall near the war memorial at Guildhall Square in Portsmouth evOjQFoHyCvZCib_68OEGraffiti showing 'UKIP' and 'DIRTY POLISH' spray-painted on the wall near the war memorial at Guildhall Square in Portsmouth evOjQFoHyCvZCib_68OE
Graffiti showing 'UKIP' and 'DIRTY POLISH' spray-painted on the wall near the war memorial at Guildhall Square in Portsmouth evOjQFoHyCvZCib_68OE

The force posted a statement on Facebook in a bid to reassure people that ‘the force has not seen a spike in hate crime’.

Between June 20 and June 26 there were 42 reports compared to 54 the previous week, and 52 incident the week before that.

The force said just two reports were received on Monday.

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It comes as the National Police Chiefs Council said there was a 57 per cent increase on its online reporting tool.

There were 85 reports from Thursday to Sunday, compared to 54 reports over the same period a month ago.

A polish student has told The News how she is scared after racist graffiti was painted on a wall near the war memorial in Guildhall Square.

When contacted on Monday Hampshire police said it had not received a report but yesterday said it would be recorded as a hate crime and be investigated.

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In its statement published today the force said: ‘For us, any incident of hate crime is unacceptable and we take each and every one very seriously but we hope that these figures come as some reassurance to those worried about a large increase in hate crimes.’

It added: ‘We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously and hate crime will not be tolerated.

‘We are continuously monitoring the situation and would strongly encourage anyone who has been victim of a hate crime to contact us on 101.’