THE courts and police are hoping to win the trust of ethnic minorities in York and North Yorkshire as they tackle the "hidden" problem of racism and hate crime in rural areas.

Police are urging the minorities to come to them and are seeking them out to ensure the force gives them the service they want.

The number of people of non-white or non-Christian backgrounds in the county has doubled since 1990 to 10,500.

Over the last year or so, the local Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) caseload of racially-motivated crimes has risen by 60 per cent - to 24.

Prosecutors say more offences go unreported and, therefore, are not investigated and the perpetrators go unpunished.

"It is only the tip of the iceberg," said Rob Turnbull, chief crown prosecutor of North Yorkshire Crown Prosecution Service. "We believe that the level of race crime in the county is vastly underrated.

"Part of the reason for that is people don't feel sufficiently confident in coming forward. We are trying to make it easier for people to report crime."

He said that because people of ethnic minorities were few in numbers in rural areas such as North Yorkshire, single families were often the only representatives of their particular racial background and therefore could lack a wider community or extended family network to support them.

Kathy Anderson, diversity development advisor for North Yorkshire Police, said that the force's officers received ongoing training on how to deal with people of all minorities, including those relating to sexual orientation as well as different ethnic or lifestyle groups.

For more than a year the police had been working with other bodies, including education, health and probation services and prosecutors to try to find out if people from ethnic and other minorities were satisfied with their work.

"A lot of people don't want to engage with the police until something happens, I can understand that," she said. "We are trying to engage with people before it gets to that level."

One of the force's principles is that every person is treated with respect, regardless of their background, and that they treat others with the same respect.

Updated: 10:03 Monday, May 26, 2003