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The harrowing surge in hate crime is laid bare today in a landmark report detailing disgusting abuse targeted at minorities.

An inquiry by grassroots campaign group Citizens UK suggests the vast majority of incidents go unreported, meaning official figures only touch “the tip of the iceberg”.

Home Office stats show the number of hate crimes in England and Wales soared by 29% in just 12 months, with 80,393 offences in 2016-17 compared with 62,518 in 2015-16.

But research by Citizens, centred around experiences in Nottingham, found 79% of hate crime victims did not report incidents to police.

Nearly half of black people and 52% of Asians polled had suffered a hate crime since 2013/14.

(Image: Getty Images)

Fifty-nine percent of Muslims had been targeted and 47% of gay or transgender people had fallen victim to hate crime.

Cases raised with academics included an Asian woman who, recalling an attack, said: “The perpetrator, who was walking a dog while pushing a pram with a young girl in it, shouted ‘Poor P***! Get a job!’ as he passed me on the pavement.

“I was selling artificial daffodils on a voluntary basis during the Marie Curie Cancer Care’s 2015 Great Daffodil Appeal.”

A taxi driver confided: “Drunk people in the cab called me a P*** many times and left without paying. Whilst taxi [driving, I was] called P*** and then hit.”

And a gay man told of his plight at the hands of thugs, saying he suffered “verbal abuse while holding hands with a man, homophobic slurs, a Facebook group targeted at me and my boyfriend declaring gays should be killed”.

He added: “One man attempted to lure me back to his flat under the pretence he was gay. Once I realised it was a trick him and his friend chased me back to my apartment and tried to get in.”

(Image: Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images/Westend61)

Yobs even abused a parent with their disabled child.

The victim said: “Drunk shouted at and banged my son’s wheelchair adapted vehicle and called it a ‘spastic van’.”

The heartbreaking study was carried out by Citizens UK and academics from Nottingham’s two universities.

Researcher Dr Jason Pandya-Wood said: “These findings are deeply troubling.

“Behind the worrying statistics are stories that highlight the impact that these crimes have on individuals and the motivation is clear - there are deep-seated issues that need to be addressed.”

Sajid Mohammend, of Citizens UK, warned: “Hate crime is rising in our cities.

“Everyone from the new Home Secretary to Nottingham school girls as young as 12 have ended up victims of hateful slurs.

“Communities can and must change this and we need cooperation from all levels of Government right up to the Prime Minister.

“We also need others to act, including an end to hate crime complacency amongst social media companies, tougher action from police forces and better media reporting as part of a national response.”