CUMBRIA Police logged fewer religious hate crimes last year, new research has shown.

Home Office figures show Cumbria Constabulary recorded 21 religious hate crime offences in the year to March – down from 37 the year before.

However, religious hate crime offences increased nationally by 25 per cent to a record 10,484 reported incidents. They have risen steadily over the last decade, with just 2,264 recorded in 2013-14.

This was largely driven by significant increases in hate crimes targeted at Jewish and Muslim people following the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7 last year.

A spokesperson for the CST said: "When the October 7 attack happened, we knew immediately that there would be a rise in antisemitism, but the scale and the speed took us by surprise.

"The fact that it began that day showed that this was being driven by anti-Jewish hatred more than anything else.

"Since then, antisemitism has spilled over into sectors where we don’t normally see it, including hospitals and workplaces, and it has had a profound impact on the way that Jewish people are feeling.

"Discrimination in any form should not be tolerated and we stand against any form of racism."

Jewish-targeted hate crime offences more than doubled to 3,282, while offences against Muslims rose 13%. They respectively accounted for a third and almost two-fifths of all religious hate crime offences.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper lambasted the "appalling levels" of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes, and said the Government will "work tirelessly to tackle this toxic hatred".

She added: “We must not allow events unfolding in the Middle East to play out in increased hatred and tension here on our streets, and those who push this poison – offline or online – must face the full force of the law.

“We must have zero tolerance for antisemitism, Islamophobia and every other form of heinous hate in Britain, and we back the police in taking strong action against those targeting our communities."