Abuse and hate crimes on social media such as Facebook and Twitter must be taken as seriously as "offline" offences, the Crown Prosecution Service has announced.

Policy statements are being rewritten to cope with the increasing number of cases sparked by offensive comments online.

The revised documents cover different strands of hate crime - racist and religious; disability; and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic.

A spokesman from the CPS said: "Hate crime can be perpetrated online or offline, or there can be a pattern of behaviour that includes both.

"The internet and social media in particular have provided new platforms for offending behaviour."

What can I do about an online hate incident?

There are three steps to take if you feel you are a victim of an online hate crime, according to True Vision, a site that offers advice and guidance on hate crime.

In the first instance, you can report incidents to the website administrator. Websites will usually have rules known as 'acceptable use policies' detailing what can and cannot be said on the site. They will have the power to delete offensive content and ban users who contravene its policies.

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and news sites such as derbytelegraph.co.uk will not allow comments, videos and images that offend or hurt people. You can flag up issues on dedicated pages of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Responsible websites will take complaints seriously.

Secondly, if the website is unhelpful or ignores your complaint, you could report it to the company that hosts the offending site. You can find out who hosts a website on whoishostingthis.com.

Thirdly, you can contact the police. If you have been, or are being, harassed on account of your race, religion or sexual orientation, or want to report illegal content, you can report it to Derbyshire police. However, be aware that their powers are limited if content originates outside the UK.

Crimes on the internet are deemed to be located where the person is when they post offensive material. This can be difficult to ascertain. It is therefore the responsibility of the force where the complainant lives to commence enquiries.

What is being done about hate crime?

In 2015-16, the CPS completed a record 15,442 hate crime prosecutions.

The conviction rate across all strands of hate crime increased from 82.9% in 2014-15 to 83.2% in 2015-16.

The CPS says it will prosecute complaints of hate crime online "with the same robust and proactive approach used with offline offending and that they will treat online complaints as seriously as offline complaints.

Prosecutors also need to understand the changing nature of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and their policies for taking down material, according to the CPS.

Emphasis was also placed on being able to tell the difference between those who produce hateful material and those who amplify and spread it.

This type of content has been repeatedly highlighted and community groups monitoring anti-Semitic and Islamophobic abuse report that a significant proportion of incidents involve the internet.

The CPS emphasised that it has always considered each case on its individual merits and prosecutes offences, whether committed online or offline, where there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest.

Elsewhere, the documents acknowledge that victims of biphobic hate crime have different experiences and needs to those affected by homophobic and transphobic offences.

The CPS also said it recognises it has a responsibility to actively remove barriers to justice for disabled victims and witnesses.

Alison Saunders, the Director of Public Prosecutions, said: "Hate crime has a corrosive effect on our society and that is why it is a priority area for the CPS.

"It can affect entire communities, forcing people to change their way of life and live in fear.

"These documents take account of the current breadth and context of offending to provide prosecutors with the best possible chance of achieving justice for victims.

"They also let victims and witnesses know what they should expect from us."

The authorities' response to hate crime has come under close scrutiny in the last year amid jumps in the number of incidents.

There was a surge in reports following the EU referendum in June 2016, while figures released earlier this month show forces registered a spike around the terrorist attacks that hit the UK earlier this year.