Ex Met boss calls for review of hate crime incidents that take up 60,000 hours of officers' time each year

The report found that officers spend tens of thousands of hours investigating approximately 13,000 non-crime hate incidents each year, diverting resources from fighting actual crime.

Lord Hogan-Howe, the most senior policing figure to criticise these incidents, said Parliament must decide whether police should be investigating them at all, adding officers were having to take action that "may appear to contradict common sense."

"I would urge ministers to look closely at this Policy Exchange report to inform the path they intend to take," he said.

His comments come after Essex Police investigated Telegraph journalist Allison Pearson, visiting her home on Remembrance Sunday over a year-old social media post allegedly inciting racial hatred. The investigation was later dropped.

The case sparked widespread scrutiny of non-crime hate incidents, which don't meet criminal thresholds but are still recorded by police.

Lord Hogan-Howe said the original aim to log incidents that could lead to racist attacks after Stephen Lawrence's murder was "well-intentioned", but implementation had led to "little debate about their efficacy".

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The peer noted police had no powers to investigate or interview "suspects" in non-crime hate incidents, causing public concern when officers had done so.

"Whether something is a non-crime hate incident is a subjective test based on guidance, producing inconsistent outcomes," he said.

Analysis by Policy Exchange found Essex Police recorded non-crime hate incidents at more than twice the national rate, with 21.5 incidents per 100 officers annually. This was three times higher than the Metropolitan Police, four times that of Greater Manchester Police and 10 times West Yorkshire Police's rate.

The report highlighted examples of trivial cases being logged, including when someone refused to shake hands - which the recipient claimed was "hate-related due to gender identity".

Another case involved a "rough" haircut being recorded after a customer claimed their barber was "aggressive" following a discussion about the Ukraine war.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary found officers were taking a "if in doubt, record" approach, often logging incidents that amounted to little more than "hurt feelings".

David Spencer, a former Met Police detective chief inspector who authored the Policy Exchange report, warned non-crime hate incidents were having a "devastating" impact on public perception of policing.