DAVID Cameron has said ‘lessons could be learned’ from a police force’s approach to hate crimes in the wake of East Lancashire student Sophie Lancaster’s murder.

The Greater Manchester constabulary revised its approach to treat crimes against sub-cultures as ‘hate crimes’ after the killing of the former Haslingden High pupil in 2007.

And during his visit to East Lancashire, the Prime Minister has suggested that Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabularies could provide a co-ordinated approach to tackling the issue.

Asked if there should be a change in the law, Mr Cameron said: “I do remember the case and it was a particularly hideous and hateful crime.

“All credit to Greater Manchester Police for what they’re doing. I’m not aware there’s any shortage in the law in terms of enabling the police to act on these sorts of crimes.

“I think the best thing for police forces to do is to learn from each other and learn from what works.

“But if there’s the need to change regulations, or change laws or look at this, I’m very happy to do so.

“But I think the police are getting better at understanding the evil nature of hate crimes and the fact that they need to crack down on them.

“We’ve got Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary that can look across police forces and make decisions like this and advise us.

“I haven’t seen anything yet that’s showed me that there’s a particular change that needs to be made.

“But let’s have a look at what Greater Manchester Police are doing and see whether other forces can learn lessons.”

Lancashire Police has previously said it had no plans to introduce new categories for hate crime but pledged to fully investigate any discriminatory offences fully.