NEW figures reveal racial hate crime increased by 68 percent in West Mercia - as the nation reacts to the racist abuse suffered by three of England's footballers.

Home Office data reveals a record number of race hate crimes were recorded by police forces in England and Wales in 2019-20 – the latest available figures.

West Mercia Police recorded 1,041 crimes during the period – an increase of 68 percent compared to 2015-16, when 620 incidents were reported.

They also marked a 30 percent rise from 2018-19, when 800 racial hate crimes were reported.

The rise was partly down to improvements in recording and an awareness of hate crime, the Home Office said.

It also said events like the EU referendum in 2016 and terrorist attacks in 2017 were likely to have had an impact

But, Charity Victim Support said other factors, such as the murder of George Floyd by a policeman in America last year, had driven a further increase in reports.

The charity said it was "extremely saddened and appalled" by the abuse suffered by the three England football players following Sunday's match.

Jo Parks, services director, said: "We’ve been concerned to see rising reports of race hate crime throughout the pandemic and have seen significant increases in the number of victims coming to us for support.

"These hate crimes have had a damaging impact on victims' safety and sense of self-worth, which can take years to re-build."

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka all received online racist abuse after missing penalties in the Euro 2020 final defeat to Italy on Sunday night

A 50-year old from Powick was recently arrested under suspicion of inciting racial hatred in connection to tweets sent to Rashford.

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