HOMOPHOBIC incidents reported to police rose by more than 170 per cent in Oxford last year.

In 2009, there were just seven incidents of homophobia in the city, but this rose to 19 in 2010.

Oxford Pride chairman Cheryl Briggs said: “Any number of homophobic incidents is still too many.

“And many won’t be reported to the police. There are more than 19 attacks in Oxford every year, I can tell you that.”

Ms Briggs said the rise could be down to people feeling more able to report attacks to the police, but it still showed homophobia was present in the city.

She said: “On the whole, especially in the centre of Oxford, this is quite a liberal city. I work for the university and I’ve never had any verbal abuse.

“But that isn’t the case for a lot of people. The threat of physical or verbal abuse still stops people coming out. This is especially at school, where a lot of young people get bullied.”

This year’s Oxford Pride Festival will run from June 3 until June 12. The theme of the event is Let’s Get Brave Together.

Lesbian and Gay Foundation spokesman Joanne Dunning said: “Any rise in homophobic hate crimes and incidents in an area is very concerning.”

But she added: “This rise in hate crime figures could actually highlight a rise in people reporting, rather than a rise in attacks.”