BLACK people were four times more likely to be stopped and searched by police in Lancashire, according to latest figures.

A report commissioned by Lancashire Police Authority said black people have a stop-and-search rate almost four and a half times that of white people and the rate of mixed race was twice that of white people.

People of an Asian background remained around one and a half times that of white people.

Report authors said they were "concerned" by the significant rise in ethnic minority stop searches.

There are around 3,000 black men and women living in the county.

The annual Ethnic Monitoring Report states officers must always give them a good reason or have an authorisation to search people in a specific area.

Those targeted will be asked to state their ethnicity so that a true picture of who is stopped and searched can be put together to avoid any discrimination.

It shows that from April 2006 to March this year the overall number of searches increased by 176 to 18,031.The number of all minority ethnic people stopped per thousand was 18.59, 1.5 times that of white people.

Lizzie Heath, report author said in the document: "It's concerning to see that the number of people from a black and mixed race stopped and searched rose significantly, going against the general trend of little or no change."

The report stated: "Now all first line supervisors will receive a training package emphasising the impact of scrutiny by them of the use of stop search powers."