A FIVE-point plan has been drawn up to stem the tide of racial harassment in Lancaster following the publication of a critical report. Living in Lancaster: The Inside Story on Racial Harassment, commissioned by a multi-agency panel with representatives from the police, the council, community groups and ethnic minorities, pinpoints high levels of racial violence on Lancaster's notorious Ryelands estate and claims a lot of harassment elsewhere in the city goes unreported. In particular it refers to the attacks on Mal Hussain's minimart and gives evidence of verbal attacks experienced by Muslims and Indians.

The report, which was compiled by Lauren Morimoto, a student at Ohio State University in America while she was on a placement at Lancaster University, was based on interviews with ten people and two groups from varying ethnic backgrounds.

Panel chairman, Cllr Eileen Blamire, said it would help them make some 'positive steps' to tackle local problems.

In response to the report, the panel has set out the following objectives. They want to:

Look at education of different cultures and religion and consider a more interactive approach

Improve publicity on racial harassment

Arrange for young ethnic minority people to be represented on the panel

Gather information on racial harassment in employment matters with a view to producing good practise guides

Gather information on complaint procedures adopted by other panels.

Hamida Patel, of Lancaster Social Services, said: "The panel would like to hear more views from both men and women in the ethnic minority community about racial harassment and how it can be tackled."

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