Hate crime is on the rise in Sutton and people are being urged to report incidents to authorities.

The borough has seen a “steady increase” in the number of victims of hate crimes, rising from 158 in 2014 to 269 last year according to figures.

Hotspots during recent years include Sutton High Street, St Helier and Wandle Valley, with near to the centre of the borough being the worst-affected.

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A heatmap of where hate crimes have been reported in Sutton

Although Sutton has the fifth-fewest hate crimes per 1,000 people in London – behind Bexley, Kingston, Merton and Richmond – racially and religiously-motivated incidents have shot up.

In 2016 there were 222 reports of such crimes but that climbed to 324 the following year, representing nearly a 46 per cent increase.

And while there were only nine reported disability hate incidents in 2017, authorities say it remains “significantly underreported”.

The data was derived from the Metropolitan Police’s Crime Reporting Information System (CRIS) as a presentation will be made to the Sutton local Committee on March 28.

It’ll urge people to tell authorities should they witness – or are a victim of – a hate crime in a bid to tackle the recent rise.

It also comes following project collaborations between organisations such as Community Action Sutton, Malookoo, Stop Hate UK, Sutton Mencap and Victim Support.

The meeting will be held at the Salvation Army building in Benhill Avenue.

You can report a hate crime to police by calling 101, 999 in an emergency or going online, contacting Victim Support on 0800 1689 111, or dialling Stop Hate UK’s 24-hour helpline on 0800 138 1625.