POLICE have vowed to help tackle homophobic abuse after shocking reports of assaults in the town emerged.

In last week’s Bracknell News, we revealed that members of the LGBT community are reluctant to report incidents of homophobic abuse to authorities because they feel no action will be taken.

One anonymous source spoke of how they had been spat at in the town centre, while others complained about being verbally abused.

They said if they reported incidents every time they happened the police would need a ‘queueing system.’

The News called for the community to come together to report incidents when they see them, or to encourage victims to come forward. 

This week, a local policing sergeant has spoken to us in of the force’s pledge to stamp out hate crime – and urged the public to help. 

Sergeant Alex Gresty of the Bracknell Town Centre neighbourhood policing team, said: “Hate crime is a priority for Thames Valley Police and when abuse is directed at an individual it will never be treated as a minor issue.

“We recognise fully that it can be difficult to report any type of abuse, especially when you have been a victim of hate crime.

“However to tackle this issue we cannot do this alone, we are reliant on the public to report such abuse, and if an incident is reported soon after it has occurred it gives us a greater chance of bringing that person to justice.

“We would encourage anyone who has been a victim of a hate crime to please contact us 101, or if they wish to report anonymously they can contact victims first on 0300 1234 148.

“Hate crime should not be tolerated but we know it is underreported. I would say if you feel able please do report these crimes, as you will be listened to and dealt with respectfully.”

As reported in last week’s News, one in five LGBT people have been the victim of hate crimes. Two in five trans people have been subjected to abuse. 

Shockingly, four in five of the crimes against these victims go unreported, the charity Stonewall says. 

The number of lesbian, gay and bisexual people who have experienced a hate crime or incident in the last year because of their sexual orientation has risen by 78 per cent from nine per cent in 2013 to 16 per cent in 2017.