GREATER Manchester Police has revealed that religious hate crime has increased by almost 300 per cent since the Manchester arena bombing.

Between May 22 2016 and June 19 2016 92 religious hate crimes were reported and between the same period this year, 366 were reported, an increase of 298 per cent.

In the same periods, Islamophobic hate crimes specifically increased from 37 to 224, an increase of 505 per cent.

GMP said that other types of hate crime have also increased but are all now returning to similar levels to pre-attack.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said: “Greater Manchester has a diverse population, with people from different faiths and backgrounds and this is something that we are proud of, it’s what makes us the city we are. We will not tolerate hatred or discrimination of any kind.

“When a major tragedy occurs such as the attacks in Manchester and London, it is sadly not unusual for there to be a spike in the amount of hate crimes, specifically against race and religion, but thankfully they do decrease again quickly.

“We continue to monitor the levels of hate crimes that are reported and it is essential that we remind people about the importance of reporting when a hate crime happens to you, or you see it happening.

“Hate crime is often under reported for a number of reasons, but we want people to have the confidence in coming forward as no one should be the subject of hate and intolerance.

“We are grateful to have very strong relationships and cooperation with different faith groups in Greater Manchester.

“To report a hate crime, if you don’t feel comfortable coming to speak to the police, you can report a hate crime through Tell Mama who support victims of Islamophobia, Community Security Trust who protects British Jews from anti-Semitism or you can report anonymously by contacting Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

“There are also a number of non-police centres that allow you to report incidents in complete confidence, more information and for reporting centres locations can be found at letsendhatecrime.com."

In an emergency contact police on 999 or to report a crime call 101.