An assembly member has called for action to “stamp out” homophobic crimes following a 50 per cent rise in Waltham Forest.

Figures from the Metropolitan Police’s hate crime dashboard show homophobic hate crime in Waltham Forest is 50 per cent higher than it was three years ago.

In the year to December 2019, there were 60 homophobic offences recorded in the borough.

In the wake of these figures, London Assembly Member, Jennette Arnold OBE AM, is calling upon the community to “come together and work harder than ever before to stamp out homophobic and transphobic abuse.”

The rise in hate crimes are in line with the national picture which shows homophobic and transphobic hate crime is on the rise nationally.

In 2018/10, the police recorded a total of 14,491 crimes against people due to their sexual orientation.

LGBT rights charity, Stonewall, suggests that four in five homophobic and transphobic hate crime incidents go unreported.

Ms Arnold, assembly member for Waltham Forest, said: “It’s sickening that an increasing number of people in our community are being targeted because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“City Hall and the Met Police are working hard to tackle hate crime in all its forms, but we know that more often than not, incidents go unreported.

"I don’t want to see anybody suffering in silence. It’s not always easy to call out prejudice when we see it, but there are many things we can do to help, and that includes reporting hate crimes to the police.”

Earlier this month, in partnership with Google, the Mayor of London announced £800,000 of new investment to go towards tackling hate crime and extremism in the capital.