Police have investigated numerous claims of “Welsh-English racism” as non-hate crimes, with one woman telling police she was called a “Welsh witch” and a man filing a complaint after being called a “drummer”.

It has emerged that UK police have recorded a number of claims of racism between the English and the Welsh as non-hate crimes.

It comes as police have been accused of wasting “valuable time” investigating playground jokes and insults as possible hate speech amid a rise in serious crime.

The Telegraph reported that one woman went to police after being called a ‘Welsh witch’, a comment officers registered as a “racial” non-hate crime.

One man also lodged a complaint with North Wales Police after being told he was a “lamb x*****”, while officers were involved in another incident after a series of “anti-Welsh” insults were shouted in the street.

According to government guidance, non-criminal hate incidents (NCHIs) are for cases that are “clearly motivated by deliberate hostility” and where there is a real risk of significant escalation.

However, UK police forces have come under fire from senior officials for wasting their time on petty complaints, with 13,000 non-criminal hate incidents reported in the year to June.

Rachel Reeves was among those who hit out last week after it emerged police were checking children for abusing each other.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp also said: “This nonsense undermines confidence in the police.”

Details obtained by The Times under Freedom of Information rules revealed that the nine-year-old was among the teenagers checked by police.

The law enforcement officers registered cases regarding a child who called his classmate “retarded”, as well as two schoolgirls who said that another student smelled like “fish”.

According to The Telegraph, in the two years to June, North Wales Police recorded 274 incidents of hate crimes not related to crime. The data was obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

Incidents are investigated and registered by the force, despite the fact that a significant proportion of crimes remain unsolved.

The figures show that 97 per cent of thefts of bicycles and personal items went without charges in the year ending in June this year. About 95 percent of burglaries, 93 percent of auto thefts and 77 percent of shoplifting incidents also went uncharged.

Another incident recorded by North Wales Police involved a pub visitor who claimed he was refused service because he was English, but bar staff told police he was turned away because he was too drunk.

Police recorded: “He was spoken to the next day when he was sober and was unwilling to provide any other information or make a complaint.”

In another incident, a shopper claimed he was racially profiled when unscanned items were found in his shopping cart.

Police were also looking into a “racial” social media post where someone wrote: “If you don’t speak Welsh you shouldn’t be here.”

Just last week, Essex Police dropped their investigation into Telegraph journalist Alison Pearson over a tweet that was posted and then swiftly deleted last November.

Pearson said police officers knocked on her door on Memorial Day earlier this month to report the investigation, but were unable to give her any details about what position was being investigated or who had filed the complaint.

In a ten-point post on X, formerly known as Twitter, she insisted she was not “racist” and that she “didn’t post a racist tweet”.

Essex Police have now confirmed that “no action will be taken” against Pearson and “the investigation is closed”.

Chief Constable Mark Hobrough, head of the National Police Chiefs’ Council for Hate Crime, will conduct an independent review of how law enforcement agencies are handling the case.

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “We investigate crimes reported to us without fear or favour.

“Sometimes we come across accusations of crimes where people have diametrically opposed views.

“That’s why we work so hard to remain impartial and investigate allegations, no matter where they may lead.”