RACIAL and religious hate crime soared by 41 per cent in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum, official figures showed yesterday.

The figures come as a newly published Home Office report showed that the overall number of hate crimes logged by forces in England and Wales in 2015/16 increased by 19 per cent, with 62,518 offences recorded — a rate of around 170 every day.

The main focus of the study was hate crimes recorded between April 2015 and March 2016, but it also included a section specifically examining the period around the EU referendum on June 23.