Many disabled people are too scared to leave their homes amid a rise in hate crime, research revealed yesterday.

A third of disabled adults reported experiencing hostile behaviour due to their disability in a Leonard Cheshire Disability charity survey.

A similar number said fear of abuse had prevented them going out in their local area.

Respondants said they were most likely to be subjected to abuse in person, while others experienced it online or via messaging apps.

The survey release coincided with new Home Office figures showing that there were 3,629 disability hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales in 2015-16, an increase of nearly half on last year.

Overall, reported hate crimes rose from 62,518 offences in 2015-16 to 80,393 in 2016-17, a 29 per cent increase.

Racially aggravated offences made up most of last year’s hate crimes, with spikes coinciding with Britain voting to leave the EU, the Westminster Bridge attack, the Manchester Arena bombing and attacks at Borough Market and Finsbury Park mosque.

Charity chief executive Neil Heslop said: “Hate crime can be totally devastating for disabled people and rob them of their confidence.

“Shocking though the police figures are, large numbers of hate crime incidents against disabled people go unreported simply because victims don’t know how to report these crimes.

“In some instances, disabled people may think that no-one will even listen.”

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: “This rise in hate crime is unacceptable, especially after a drop in police referrals has seen a fall in prosecutions.

“The Tories continue to make police cuts and, in their own words, they have created a ‘hostile environment’ for migrants. Amber Rudd needs to urgently come to Parliament and explain what the government’s response will be to address this serious failing.”

Frontline view

Evidence from disability charity Mencap, which is campaigning for the law to be changed so hate crime against disabled people is treated as seriously as race or religious hate crime.

Kelly, 41, who has a learning disability and has been bullied since her school days, said: “I still get called nasty names, now it’s on the street. They follow me home, ring my bell, wake me up and bang on my door.

“It causes me stress and makes my blood pressure high. When I tell the police they just say: ‘Walk away, Kelly,’ or ‘just ignore them, Kelly.’

“I know that there are lots of people with a learning disability that are suffering from hate crime and nothing is being done — they get away with it because police don’t take it seriously.”