HATE crime has reached record levels in North Wales, new figures reveal.

The latest Home Office show North Wales Police recorded 940 total hate crimes in 2018-19. Figures show this has more than doubled from 2016-17 when the force recorded a total of 465 crimes.

Recent figures show that most hate crime on record across the region is documented as racially aggravated with 616 incidents – accounting for 63 per cent of all reports. This is a major jump since figures in 2016-17 report 336 incidents.

Figures are also broken down by incidents where an individual is targeted due to religion, sexual orientation, disability or being transgender.

Homophobic crimes in North Wales have increased year-on-year – with the data showing that numbers have more than tripled since 2016 from 63 reports to 178 in 2018.

Crimes against transgender people have also tripled – from eight incidents in 2016 to 25 in 2018.

A similar figure arose from crimes targeted disabled people – almost doubling from 54 in 2016 to 109 in 2018. The Leader previously reported that disability hate crime is rising across North Wales but few cases make it to court.

Greg George, head of diversity for North Wales Police, said: “We have seen an increase in hate crime reported to North Wales Police over the last five years. We want to continue to raise the profile of hate crime and are working with partners to send a clear message to the community about the importance of reporting incidents.

“We are also keen to ensure potential perpetrators understand that this type of crime will not be tolerated.”