London (CNN) Children as young as 10 are whitening their faces to avoid being subjected to racist abuse in Britain, a child protection group has warned, as police struggle to stem a rising tide of hate crimes against minors.

A total of 10,571 racially-motivated hate crimes against children -- an average of 29 a day -- were recorded by police in 2017-18, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) found. Toddlers and even babies were among those targeted.

That number is now a fifth higher than it was just three years ago, and is growing at a rate of about 1,000 new crimes a year.

The charity's report, based on police records in regions across Britain, highlights the scale and breadth of racism in the deeply divided nation. Since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the crisis has swelled so severely that children yet to reach their first birthday are counted among the victims.

The group also said that children using their Childline service are suffering verbal racist abuse in public, and are resorting to drastic measures in an effort to stem the attacks.

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