Racial violence 'moving from cities to town and villages'

Researchers said a map of attacks fuelled by hate and bigotry shows a dramatic change in just one generation.

Once notorious flashpoints, many in London, are now more "at ease" with diversity, the IRR said in a report it released yesterday

But other areas, which have begun to see a changing population more recently, with, for example, increased immigration, migrant workers, and a shifting workforce, are seeing a rise in violence based on different racisms according to the local conditions.

The IRR's authors analysed 660 attacks with a racial element across Britain last year as well as the numbers of deaths attributed to racial attacks since 1993.

Their report highlights the deaths of 89 people they said had lost their lives in attacks with a racial element since 1993, including the murder of Mohammed Parvaiz, the 41-year-old Asian taxi driver who died from head injuries after a racist attack in Huddersfield in 2006. Four teenagers were jailed for a total of 80 years for the racially aggravated killing, which happened after Mr Parvaiz had accidentally become embroiled in a row over a damaged motorbike.

The report said: "What has emerged is that the map of violence has changed quite dramatically since studies were first done of such violence in the 1970s. It is no longer poor deprived areas of London such as Southall, Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Newham, which witnessed many of the racial attacks and racist murders a generation or two ago, that are now so prone to serious attacks.

"Not only are black and ethnic minority communities now more established there but also a whole history of struggle against racism has strengthened these communities."

They added: "But what was significant was that ethnic minorities in a whole host of cities, towns and areas, not traditionally associated with such violence, now appear to be experiencing it.

"These are areas which have traditionally been very white and are not affluent. In some cases core industries have gone and a whole generation of young people are without a future."

The authors said trades that isolate individuals such as cab driving, serving in takeaways and staffing small shops were found to be the most dangerous for those at risk.

The report says victims of attacks are overwhelmingly Asian (45 per cent) and black (18 per cent), while 10 per cent were white British, and just over seven per cent Polish.