Racially and religiously aggravated criminal offences rose by 13 per cent on Merseyside last year - while a quarter of cases were closed in the county with "no suspect identified."
The impact of the coronavirus lockdown, along with protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, were two of the main factors named by forces as helping to drive the increase in offences, along with improved recording of hate crimes.
Nationally, a total of 61,851 racially and religiously aggravated offences were recorded in 2020, up 7 per cent from 57,825 in 2019.
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This is also more than double the 28,479 offences recorded in 2013, the first calendar year for which comparable data is available.
On Merseyside, there were 1,671 offences in 2019 and 1,880 in 2020, a jump of 13 per cent.
Also last year, of those 1,880 offences, 472 were termed "investigation complete, no suspect identified", meaning at least a quarter resulted in no arrests.
Cheshire recorded a two per cent increase, up to 999 in 2020 from 982.
Lancashire saw an eight per cent rise, up from 1,099 to 1,186.
Cheshire and Lancashire closed 18 per cent and 29 per cent of cases in 2020 without identifying a suspect, respectively.
Independent charity Victim Support called the national figures “shocking” and said it was “huge cause for concern that so many cases are left unsolved."
The Equality and Human Rights Commission warned that although the police had taken “positive steps” in the recording of hate crime, “more still needs to be done to improve the process and the quality of support for victims”.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said forces had worked hard to improve their handling of hate crime, including better recording of offences, adding: “We are working with forces to help them understand and improve the service they provide to victims.”
Of the 43 forces that did provide complete data, all apart from Greater Manchester Police, 33 reported a rise in racially and religiously aggravated offences from 2019 to 2020, while 30 forces said numbers last year reached a new high.
The offences - all of which are defined as hate crimes - include racially or religiously aggravated assault, harassment and criminal damage.
Metropolitan Police recorded the highest number of these offences in 2020 (15,101; up 7 per cent from 14,051 in 2019), followed by West Midlands (5,115; up 23 per cent from 4,145) and West Yorkshire (4,627; down per cent from 4,681).
Leicestershire Police saw the biggest percentage year-on-year rise in racially and religiously aggravated offences in 2020, up from 714 to 1,297 (a rise of 82%), followed by Dyfed-Powys (up 49%) and Dorset (43%).
Police-recorded hate crime offences have been on an upwards trend for the past decade, with spikes often driven by national events, the NPCC said – examples being the 2016 EU referendum, Covid-19 and, in May 2020, the murder in the United States of George Floyd, which led to public demonstrations both in support and against the Black Lives Matter movement.
More recently, racist abuse experienced by members of the England football squad following the team’s defeat in the Euro 2020 final may prove to be another spike, with the UK’s Football Policing Unit already searching through thousands of social media posts aimed at Marcus Rashford, Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho.
Diana Fawcett, chief executive at independent charity Victim Support, said that throughout the pandemic they had seen high numbers of hate crime victims seeking support, particularly following the easing of lockdowns.
She said: “We have seen victims who not only live with pain and suffering after facing horrendous abuse, but who also have had their sense of safety, well-being and self-worth damaged,” she said, adding that victims must have “confidence they will get justice from these incidences”.
A spokesperson from the Equality and Human Rights Commission said: “Positive steps have been taken by the police to improve recording practices, but we know that victims of hate crime may not report incidents if, for example, they have low trust in police and criminal justice agencies.
“It is essential that hate crimes or incidents are reported to the police to help ensure they are properly investigated and prosecuted.
“An increase in the number of police recorded cases could be a sign of improvements in recording practices, but more still needs to be done to improve the process and the quality of support for victims.”
NPCC lead for hate crime, Deputy Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, said: “Targeting someone because of their race or other characteristic is completely unacceptable and should not be tolerated.
“Everyone has the right to live their lives without fear of being attacked, either physically, verbally or online. Police take all reports of threats and abuse seriously and we will work to bring perpetrators to justice.”
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