Hate crimes reported to police have increased by more than 1,200 over four years, new figures show.

Bradford victims of attacks or threats against their race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability rocketed from 544 reports in 2014/15 to 1,788 in 2017/18.

According to a Freedom of Information request submitted to West Yorkshire Police, every type of hate crime increased over a four year period, with race incidents overwhelming the others on the list.

Police recorded 544 hate crimes in 2014/15 and 476 of those were race-related.

The force then recorded 969 a year later, with 820 having a racial element to them. A similar theme was spotted in the 2016/17 figures when 1,128 out of 1,410 hate crimes were reported to police for being racially motivated, while 1,317 out of 1,788 involved racism in 2017/18.

A spokesman for Bradford Hate Crime Alliance said: “National and International events have had a major impact on increased reporting of all forms of hate crime across the UK. However, that needs to be seen in the context that historically all forms of hate crime have been and continue to be massively under reported. In Bradford our strategic partnership with the Police, Bradford Council, local communities and other agencies continues to undertake excellent work on tackling hate crime and providing different pathways to reporting hate crime which is regarded as national best practice.”

Nadeem Murtuja, director of Just Yorkshire, a charity promoting racial justice, said: “On the one hand, at least people have the confidence to report hate crime to respective statutory agencies.

“Let’s commend the police and local authorities in really pushing people to report because, in any form of society, this is not acceptable.

“It’s incredibly worrying this trajectory is growing at the levels it is and one has to ask the question why, and what are the causal factors.”

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “The increase of recorded hate crime in Bradford District is mirrored across West Yorkshire and its other policing districts, which have all seen rises between April 2015 and March 2018.

“A hate crime is any criminal offence which is perceived by the victim or any other person, to be motivated by a hostility or prejudice based on a person’s disability, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity. West Yorkshire Police was recently praised for its approach to tackling hate crime in a report by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services and continues to invest in local policing to provide stronger governance arrangements and ensure its delivery of hate crime recording, investigation and victim care is as good as it can be. Bradford, like each of the five policing districts in West Yorkshire, has its own hate crime scrutiny panel. This regular scrutiny of hate crime investigation allows for continual improvement and development. West Yorkshire Police are encouraged that victims of hate crime have the confidence to come forward and report it.”