A new plan is being put together to tackle a massive rise in hate crime.

The number of incidents almost doubled in a year, according to the latest figures.

It means in Essex somebody is reporting becoming the victim of hatred every four hours.

This includes racial and religious abuse, or hate relating to disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

Essex County Council was set to endorse a new three-year prevention strategy yesterday.

The report states: “This reflects a greater number of incidents, as well as increases in reporting and public awareness.

“These increases serve as a mandate for the development of a countywide strategy to tackle the root causes of hate crime and promote community confidence in engaging with the criminal justice system and other partners.”

The five point action plan includes targeting hotspots and investigating emerging trends to stop them becoming growing concerns.

Education is another key part of the plan as well as offering better support to victims.

Essex Police and local authorities have worked together on the plan which will be overseen by the Safer Essex Board.

Chairman Ian Davidson said: “Hate crime is absolutely deplorable and it is right we take active steps to tackle this growing issue in our diverse county.

“It can cause great distress for victims, and have a knock-on effect on whole communities, which is why this strategy is so important.”

“We can only tackle hate crime by working together.”

Between April 2015 and March 2016 there were 1,079 reported incidents.

By the following year this had increased to 1,931.

Figures for 2017 to 2018 have not been confirmed.

Among the increase was a 223 per cent rise in religious hate crime.