Record levels of hate crime were reported by three-quarters of police forces in England and Wales in the aftermath of last year's EU referendum, new analysis has shown.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the findings suggested a small number of people used the Brexit vote “to legitimise inexcusable racism and prejudice”, while charity Victim Support said more needed to be done to encourage victims to come forward.

However Ukip leader Paul Nuttall has said that such incidents have been “overblown” in an attempt to “rubbish Brexit”.

The figures, compiled by the Press Association, provide the first complete picture of hate crime recorded by police in England and Wales following the referendum on June 23.

Figures from the Press Association show in the three months ending September 2016 33 out of 44 forces recorded the highest quarterly number of hate crimes since records began in April 2012.

Three forces each recorded more than 1,000 hate crimes – the Metropolitan Police (3,356), Greater Manchester (1,033) and West Yorkshire (1,013).

Provisional figures on hate crimes published by the Home Office in October 2016 suggested offences in July 2016 were 41 per cent higher than in July 2015.

The new analysis shows a rise in incidents was seen in almost every force in England and Wales, both year-on-year and when comparing the three months either side of the referendum.

In 36 police force areas, a majority of voters backed Leave in the referendum - and the quarterly hate crime figure rose in all of them except two.

The area with the biggest Leave vote, Lincolnshire, saw hate crimes jump by 59 per cent.

David Isaac, chairman of the EHRC, said it “must be sensible to prepare for any possible spikes” in hate crime once Brexit negotiations got under way.

He said: “The vast majority of people who voted to leave the European Union did so because they believed it was best for Britain and not because they are intolerant of others.

“It is clear, however, a small minority of people used the Brexit vote to legitimise inexcusable racism and prejudice.

“We cannot allow such intolerable acts of hate to be condoned or repeated.

“The triggering of Article 50 is the next major milestone and we must do all we can to discourage hate attacks and to support people who feel at risk.”

Mr Nuttall dismissed evidence of a spike in hate crimes in the wake of the referendum, saying it followed a pattern seen after other major national events.

He told the Independent: “A lot of it [rise in hate crimes] is fabricated, of course there will be individual instances and people should never be victims of hate crime at all.

“I’ve said this in the chamber in the European Parliament, my heart goes out to those people who have been victims, but I think a lot of this has been overblown specifically to try to rubbish Brexit.”

Lucy Hastings, director at Victim Support, said the charity last year supported 16,000 victims of hate crime in England and Wales and confirmed a spike in referrals in the immediate aftermath of the referendum.

She said: “Hate crime has no place in our society and every victim of this crime is one too many.

“We believe that more needs to be done to further encourage reporting. This includes making third-party hate crime units more accessible to the public.”

The Home Office said Britain had some of the strongest legislation on hate crime anywhere in the world.