Over 300 hate crimes have been reported in the Moorlands over the last five years according to new data received from Staffordshire Police.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council published the data at a meeting of its Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel yesterday (Monday), in response to a question by Cllr Nigel Yates, of the Biddulph West ward.

The question read: ""Since 2015 it has been mandatory for Police Authorities to collect data on hate crimes.

"Hate crimes are defined as acts of hostility or prejudice the victim believes is directed against them by reason of disability, race, religion, transgender identity or sexual orientation.

"What data exists between 2015 to 2019 for Staffordshire Police Authority and what data exists pertaining to the Staffordshire Moorlands area?"

In response, the council stated that 304 hate crimes were recorded in the Moorlands between 2015 and 2019, with 7,160 being recorded in Staffordshire as a whole during the same time period.

Each year's data is shown below:

• 2015: 56 Moorlands hate crimes and 1,055 in Staffordshire

• 2016: 62 Moorlands hate crimes and 1,361 in Staffordshire

• 2017: 61 Moorlands hate crimes and 1,673 in Staffordshire

• 2018: 66 Moorlands hate crimes and 1,578 in Staffordshire

• 2019: 59 Moorlands hate crimes and 1,493 in Staffordshire

At yesterday's meeting, Cllr Yates also asked a follow-up question to find out whether it was possible to put more "meat on the bones" of this data.

He said: "According to the Home Office, the majority of violent incidents are believed to be when the offender is under the influence of alcohol at night time - do the police report on the site of these incidents, so we could put a bit more meat on the bones of this data?"

In response, Cllr Michael Bowen advised Cllr Yates to get the data from the police themselves.

Cllr Yates also asked: "Has any work been done by our licensing authority if hate crime incidents have been linked to particular venues?"

To which Cllr Bowen replied: "We had a huge campaign last Christmas about drunken behaviour in pubs. If these issues are referred to our licensing department then we will take action, but if it's purely a hate crime then the police themselves would take action."

To see the meeting and its supporting documents in full, visit the relevant page of the district council's website here.