Ugly incidents have increased by up to 27 times in regions with higher numbers of British National Party members.
Racist and religiously motivated offences totalled 39,643 in 2007 to 2008, the last year for which UK statistics are available. Ten years ago, there were 21,750.
The near doubling of the national average hides alarming hotspots.
Yorkshire and Essex, where the racist BNP have spread, are among the worst hit. The number of offences across Yorkshire shot up from 338 to 3,592. North Yorks had a 2,767% rise. Essex saw a 949% increase - to 913 from only 87.
The BNP, which stops non-whites joining, has 1,600 members in Yorkshire and 670 in Essex, according to a recent leaked list.
London bucked the trend sharply. The Met police still handle the most hate crimes but they almost halved from 13,850 to 7,353.
The Lib Dems' Chris Huhne, who unearthed the figures, said:
Ministers must examine what the Met are doing and ensure best practice is spread nationally.
The alarming rise in these crimes will be of huge concern to anyone who values this country's proud record as a tolerant and diverse nation.
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