A RECORD-BREAKING amount of racially-aggravated hate crime is being logged locally.

South Yorkshire Police bosses believe the climb sparked as a result of the Israel-Palestine conflict last year - but concerns have been raised over rates which are failing to drop.

Home Office figures - obtained by the Chronicle in a Freedom of Information request - show the force recorded 215 religious hate crime offences in the year to March and the highest number since comparable records began in 2011/12.

It represented a four per cent rise in the last year, however Jewish-targeted hate crime offences more than doubled, while offences against Muslims rose 13 per cent.

They respectively accounted for a third and almost two-fifths of all religious hate crime offences.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper lambasted the ‘appalling levels’ of anti-semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes,and said the government will work tirelessly to tackle this toxic hatred.

“The appalling levels of anti-semitic and Islamophobic hate crimes outlined in the figures are a stain on our society and this government will work tirelessly to tackle this toxic hatred wherever it is found,” she added.

“We must not allow events unfolding in the Middle East to play out in increased hatred and tension here on our streets, and those who push this poison - offline or online - must face the full force of the law.

“We must have zero tolerance for antisemitism, Islamophobia and every other form of heinous hate in Britain, and we back the police in taking strong action against those targeting our communities.”