麻豆社

One of the largest disability charities in the UK says the new figures showing a 29% increase in hate crimes in England and Wales "are likely to understate the problem".

The Home Office statistics show that most of the offences were racially motivated, but the biggest rise was in disability hate crimes, which went up by more than 50%.

Neil Heslop is Chief Executive of Leonard Cheshire, a charity which helps 35,000 disabled people per year. He told Radio 4's World at One that the figures do not reflect the true situation of disability hate crimes "because these individuals do not know or do not have the confidence to take the step of formally reporting" them.

(Photo: Disabled man in a wheelchair. Credit: Getty images)