Nearly half of the 586 anti-Semitic crimes reported in the UK happened in Greater Manchester, The overall UK figure was the fourth highest since records began in 1984. Greater Manchester Police said the increase reflected a greater reporting of incidents.

There were 244 reported anti-Semitic crimes in Greater Manchester, These included street attacks, threats, vandalism and desecration of Jewish property, with 201 in London.

London's Jewish population stands at 149,800 compared with Greater Manchester's 21,700.

One incident of extreme violence took place when a Jewish family were filling up their car at a petrol station and occurred as follows: As one of the family members crossed the forecourt to make payment, a car with two women inside reversed sharply into her this knocked her to the ground, The two women then got out of their car, screamed"Dirty Jew" and spat on the injured woman lying on the ground, before getting back into the car and driving away.

The rise continues the pattern whereby a higher proportion of the anti-Semitic incidents reported occur in Greater Manchester than should be the case, given the relative sizes of the Jewish communities in Manchester and in London.

Among the incidents across the UK in 2011 were 92 assaults, 63 incidents of vandalism, 394 reports of abuse and 29 direct threats. The rise in Greater Manchester was recorded due to major efforts to ensure all incidents were actually recorded, police said.