Police in Hounslow want to hear from victims of hate crime to help them identify the true scale of the problem and crack down on perpetrators.

Hundreds of people across the borough are persecuted each year because of their race or religion, according to crime statistics, with many more attacked or intimidated due to prejudices about their sexual orientation, disability or transgender identity.

But those figures may only represent the tip of the iceberg, with the issue prone to under-reporting as victims are often reluctant to come forward.

That is why police in Hounslow have launched a short survey, asking what those affected think should be done to help stamp out hate crime and improve the way officers deal with offences.

They have urged anyone who has experienced hate crime or knows someone subjected to such abuse to complete the questionnaire by May 7 by clicking here.

There were 367 racist and religious hate crimes recorded across the borough during the last year, with 29 cases of Islamophobia, 28 of homophobia and two anti-Semitic crimes.

All those figures were up from 2013/14, with racist and religious hate crime rising by just under 10% year-on-year.