A hate crime investigation into an incident at a protest outside Warwickshire County Council has been paused with an unhappy complainant alleging evidence was "disregarded".

Warwickshire Police has confirmed that its queries into allegations that a discriminatory remark was aimed at members of the LGBTQ+ community outside Shire Hall, Warwick, on Friday 22 May, has been 'filed'.

It means that work on the case will cease unless and until sufficient fresh information or evidence comes forward to warrant consideration.

Thirty protestors gathered outside the county's headquarters half an hour before a public-facing council meeting in which it was decided to consult the public on plans to axe funding for Warwickshire's Equality and Inclusion Partnership (EQuIP).

Many of the protesters then made their way inside to hear the debate and decision with an allegation made during open session that a discriminatory remark had been made during the protest. The Local Democracy Reporting Service has decided against publishing further detail.

Daniel Browne, who attended the protest as chair of the county's primary LGBTQ+ group Warwickshire Pride, declared the outcome "disappointing but not surprising" and claimed: "The suspect was never interviewed, witness statements were disregarded and this is yet another example of Warwickshire Police failing LGBTQ+ communities."

Confirming that the matter had been referred to the county council's monitoring officer Sarah Duxbury – the authority's most senior legal professional and arbiter of complaints – dismay was also expressed that the verdict would act as a green light for "spreading hate and targeting marginalised groups of people".

A Warwickshire Police spokesperson reported that one suspect had been "voluntarily interviewed under caution" with a second providing a written statement.

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They insisted that all reports of hate crime are taken "very seriously" with the force committing to "thoroughly investigate any and all reports made to us".

"Extensive enquiries and a thorough investigation of the evidence, which included witness statements and an interview, determined no further action needed to be taken," they added.

"All parties were spoken to at the time and were accepting of the outcome."

The protest was largely visual with attendees, including serving county and district councillors from Warwickshire, decked out in bright colours matching those seen on the Pride flag.

Some waved Pride flags while others held up placards with messages such as 'Love equality' and 'Equality and inclusion benefits everyone'. No counter protest was seen either outside Shire Hall or at the meeting.

The protest was in response to plans to withdraw entirely a £135,000-per-year county council contribution to EQuIP.

The charity, known as the Warwickshire Race Equality Partnership before expanding to tackle all forms of discrimination in 2017, provides discrimination and hate crime support, equalities training and guidance and aids engagement and community cohesion through services to community groups, faith groups, businesses, schools and public sector organisations.