NUMBERS of hate crime against people based on their religion in Lancashire is on the rise.

Figures released by Muslim Engagement and Development show that police dealt with 75 incidents, an increase of 59 per cent on the previous year.

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The message comes as MEND is set to host a major conference on Islamophobia at Blackburn Library this evening.

MIND said that nationally an estimated 5,723 anti-Muslim hate crimes were recorded over a 12 month period to March 2015, an increase on the previous year.

They also said the figures show that high levels of anti-Muslim hate crimes occur in regions where Muslims are a very small proportion of the local population.

The figures were released in MEND’s annual report and experimental statistics on anti-Muslim hate crime 2013-2015.

Vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Islamophobia, Naz Shah, said: “I welcome the approach of using data to assess the scale of anti-Muslim hate crime. It is highly pertinent given events around the world which can act as a ‘trigger’ for anti-Muslim hate crime in the UK.”

The figures also show that race hate crimes in East Lancashire rose to 765, a rise of 45 per cent. Lancashire police crime commissioner Clive Grunshaw, who will be speaking at today’s conference, said: “Lancashire is a diverse community, which is part of what makes it such a brilliant place. My police and crime plan priorities include protecting vulnerable people and championing victims’ rights.

“To work towards achieving this, I gave £4,800 to fund an alternative hate crime conference led by the Sophie Lancaster Foundation. I have also given £20,000 to Victims Voice – an organisation made up of groups that tackle hate crime across the county. They used the funding to raise awareness.”

The conference runs from 6.15pm-7.45pm, with speeches from Mr Grunshaw, Josh Durham from Victims Voice and Sufyan Ismail, who is the CEO of MEND.