HATE crime victims were urged to report offences at a pop-up stall in the city centre.

Police cadets, actors and council staff engaged with shoppers outside Costa Coffee, in St Martin's Quarter, Worcester, on Saturday, October 14.

The event was organised by the South Worcestershire Community Safety Partnership and marked the first day of National Hate Crime Awareness Week.

Hayley Turner, a community safety officer for Worcester City Council, said: "We are trying to raise awareness about hate crime and how it should be properly reported.

"It seems that people are quite accepting of comments and being a victim and just push it off when really it's a crime.

"This is the first event. We have one [stall] in Worcester, one in Malvern and one in Evesham."

Ms Turner was offering leaflets to the public in a bid to raise awareness and signpost the support that is available to victims.

She encouraged one young man to speak with the police after he revealed the abuse he receives as a result of his mental illnesses.

The 35-year-old added that the hate crime statistics for Worcester would be higher if everyone reported offences.

Zoe Haworth, aged 38, was one of the actors taking part in the event.

She said: "We have three separate performances. One person is communicating via mime.

"Then we have someone with a map saying 'I'm lost, where can I report a hate crime?'

"Us two are busking for advice. They [the public] write down a note such as 'tell the police' or 'put up CCTV'."

Dawn Brown, the manager of the Costa Coffee shop, in St Martin's Quarter, said she was proud to host a pop-up stall outside her building.

She said: "We are an open house and welcome anyone.

"This is a multicultural cafe. People might be suffering and they might not know the laws in England."

Ms Brown said she has all types of customers, including lots of eastern Europeans, Portuguese and Asians.

PC Tina Cowan was also outside the coffee shop, coordinating eight police cadets as they handed out leaflets.

She said: "They are doing really well, some of them just started and it's their first public engagement.

"It's about making communities aware of hate crime."

The police constable added that hate crime is underreported and said this is partly down to language and cultural differences.