THE number of reported hate crimes against Jews rose in Greater Manchester last year, new figures show.

Hate crime awareness charity Campaign Against Anti-Semitism (CAS) made Freedom of Information requests to every UK police force and published the findings this week.

There were 176 reports in Greater Manchester in 2015 compared with 150 in 2014.

Of those reports, there were 43 violent incidents in 2015 compared with 25 in 2014.

Charges were pressed in 13 cases in 2015 compared with seven in 2014.

There was a slight fall in the number of reports of non-criminal anti-Semitic incidents, from 120 in 2014 to 119 in 2015.

Across the country, the number of reports rose from 746 in 2014 to 938 in 2015.

There was no breakdown for the Prestwich and Whitefield area.

However, previous data shows there were 25 reported incidents in Bury in the first half of 2015 compared with 23 in the same period of 2014.

A CAS spokesman said the national figures are the worst levels on record.

CAS chairman Gideon Falter said: "This data should alarm those responsible for enforcing the law. They are failing British Jews badly.

"Britain has the political will to fight anti-Semitism and strong laws with which to do it, but in too many cases, those responsible for tackling the rapidly growing racist targeting of British Jews are failing to enforce the law.

"The authorities can still make up for lost time, but the window is closing. Britain's fight against anti-Semitism and extremism cannot be allowed to fail."

CAS wants police officers and prosecutors to get specific training in anti-Semitic hate crime.

It also wants a review of how police forces deal with hate crime and for the Crown Prosecution Service to publish a regular report on cases of anti-Semitism.

Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner Tony Lloyd said he was pleased people feel confident enough to report incidents.

He added: "But behind these figures lie some abhorrent incidents and assaults.

"Hate crimes and ignorant attitudes must not be tolerated."

Mr Lloyd said £100,000 had previously been allocated to support local projects to combat hate crime.

"The route to ending hate crime is not going be easy but by listening to victims, working with community and voluntary groups and harnessing the unwavering will and determination of local people we can challenge hate," he added.