BOLTON is no more racist than anywhere else, police chiefs have said, despite new figures showing there was a hate crime committed nearly every day last year.

There were 310 hate crimes relating to race in 2014 in Bolton — more than in Salford and Rochdale and nearly twice the number recorded in Bury and Stockport.

The statistics, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that only Manchester and Oldham recorded more race hate crimes in the region.

Last year saw police deal with two far-right protests at the site of a proposed new mosque building in Astley Bridge, as well as one at Bolton Town Hall when the plans were approved.

In December, two men were fined £600 after admitting posting offensive messages on the Stop The Astley Bridge Mosque Facebook page.

Ch Supt Shaun Donnellan said Bolton had more victims of hate crime because the borough is more diverse than some parts of Greater Manchester.

But Chris Chilton, vice-chair of Bolton Against Racism, said that there were many "disaffected young men "in the borough who are easy prey for the far right.

Ch Supt Donnellan said: "The figures are relatively low and they do show a confidence in the police that people are willing to report these offences.

"The convictions send out a strong message.

"With it being a diverse borough you are going to get more hate crime as there are more people that can potentially be victims.

"We will prosecute anyone who targets someone because of their characteristics, whether it be in the street, in the pub or on Facebook.

"We will be pressing for high sanctions from the courts."

On whether Bolton is more racist than anywhere else, he added: "Definitely not. Wigan, for example, has a 97 per cent white population, so it is likely that there will be less victims than in Bolton, which is more diverse."

Of Greater Manchester Police's divisions, north Manchester recorded the highest with 555 race-related hate crimes, while there were 342 in South Manchester and 328 in Oldham - three other areas with large ethnic minority populations.

But Bolton recorded nearly twice as many offences as Bury — 175 — and Stockport — 162 — while there were 256 in Rochdale and 297 in Salford.

There were 188 offences in Wigan, 147 in Trafford, 191 in Tameside and six at Manchester Airport.

Chris Chilton, vice chairman of Bolton Against Racism, said: "This is not solely a Bolton problem but there are a number of factors.

"Disaffection in Bolton is high and there are high rates of poverty.

"Struggling families and young men who are looking for answers want something to blame.

"The levels of hardship in Bolton make these people easy prey to the far right."

He added: "The mosque issue was a symptom of a growing fear of Islam in this country, which goes back to the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions."

Only last week, a man was convicted for shouting racist abuse from a bus leaving a protest at the mosque in August.

Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South East, said: "Not many of the people that joined in with the BNP or EDL or Infidels were from Bolton, rather they come from across the country.

"The people of Bolton did not rise to the bait and fall for their divisive agenda."

Chan Parmar, chairman of Bolton Interfaith Council, said: "We are always working hard with the local authority to promote tolerance and breaking down barriers.

"These things are not easy but we do a lot of work with school and communities, trying to to make people understand that we should all work together in our town and that everyone should have a sense of belonging."