Black people are eight time more likely to be stopped by the police than white people, according to new figures released yesterday.

In response, a new anti-racism unit is to be set up at the Home Office.

Police will also have to record the ethnic details of everyone they stop and search.

John Denham, the home office minister, said: "We must get to the bottom of these issues. Where we are seeing the results of continuing discrimination we must work together to root it out. It is vital that the public engage in a serious debate about race in the criminal justice system."