Takeaway staff suffer race abuse

Less than half the victims of racism reported it to the police

More than one in three people of a minority ethnic origin working in takeaways in the South East regularly suffer racial abuse, the BBC has found.

Many owners and staff told BBC South East Today they have been both verbally and physically assaulted by customers.

Reporters spoke to about a third of outlets in the region and more than one in three said they had suffered abuse.

Police say many workers suffer some form of racism once a week but it goes unreported, which they want to change.

Dislocated shoulder

Among the victims the BBC spoke to was a kebab shop owner in West Sussex who said his car had been set alight and he had received death threats over the phone.

A kebab shop owner in Ashford suffered a dislocated shoulder after being attacked.

And a man who runs an Indian takeaway in Gillingham said his window was smashed once a fortnight.

Staff at 38 of the takeaways said they had suffered criminal damage

Many of the people the reporters interviewed were too frightened to speak on tape or on camera.

Reporters spoke to staff at 232 different takeaways - it is estimated there are between 600 and 700 in Kent and Sussex which are staffed by people from ethnic minorities.

Of those 232, 85 (36.6%) said they had been a victim of racism.

Problems with language

Forty-four said they had received verbal abuse, four physical abuse and 29 both.

Staff at 38 takeaways said their premises had suffered criminal damage.

Of the 85 who said they had been a victim of racism, 37 had reported it to the police and six said it had resulted in a prosecution.

Campaigners said they were not surprised by the findings of the survey.

They said many in the food industry accept racism on a daily basis because of the frequency of the attacks, problems with language and because they feel the authorities will not act.

Dharmendra Kanani, of the Commission for Racial Equality, said: "I think it's a sad reflection of reality for a lot of people working in this trade.

"I think up and down Britain you will hear this story of people experiencing routine forms of racial abuse."