RACIST incidents in East Lancashire have soared during summer.

The police were asked to deal with more than 200 cases of harassment and racism in the last four months, with more than half of them in the east of the county.

The number of racist attacks has more than doubled over the last 12 months but Lancashire's Chief Constable Pauline Clare says the increase shows victims are more confident about reporting incidents, and her officers have a better understanding of the problems faced by the ethnic minorities.

In Eastern Division which includes Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley, there were 66 incidents.

In the Pennine Division which includes Burnley and Pendle, there were 49 racists attacks over the last 12 months.

Solat Chaudry, a voluntary worker with the East Lancashire Partnership Against Racial Harassment, said: "There has always been a problem out there but it is a lot bigger than anyone ever realised."

"Blackburn Racial Equality Council has been working very hard in this area and in partnership with the police. The aim was to increase awareness of racial harassment and that is what they have done.

"It is no major surprise that the amount of reported racial incidents has increased dramatically in the recent year."

The death of student Stephen Lawrence, and the subsequent Macpherson report, has affected police forces across the country. Lancashire police launched a campaign to attract more black and Asian recruits and changed its policies on dealing with racism.

The campaign was centred on the Blackburn area and included a number of hard hitting adverts on billboards and in the press.

Mrs Clare has said changing the attitudes of her police officers towards the ethnic minorities is now one of her main aims.

Initiatives have included printing a new definition of racist incidents on pay slips and improved links with ethnic minority groups.

Mrs Clare said: "The increase is not entirely unexpected and represents an increase in reporting incidents by ethnic minority groups as their confidence in the police increases."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.