POLICE in Hampshire say reports of hate crime in the county have fallen in the week since the EU Referendum.

This week community leaders have issued calls for calm and toleration after reports of racist abuse were recorded against members of ethnic minority communities.

However official police figures for hate crimes reported to Hampshire Constabulary show there was a drop of 12 from the week before the referendum to the week after.

For the week June 20 to June 26, with the referendum taking place on June 23, 42 hate crimes were recorded, against 54 the previous week.

Police received two reports on Monday.

In the previous two weeks there were 50 (May 30 - June 5) and 52 (June 6 - June 12) recorded.

A police spokesman said: "We take allegations of this nature extremely seriously.

"We would strongly encourage anyone who has been the victim or who has witnessed a hate crime to report it to us on 101."