ASIANS, gays and lesbians will get special protection from a new police team in Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

Pennine police are to set up a new minorities team to tackle racist and homophobic incidents.

The area will become a trailblazer for a racist crime policy for the whole of Lancashire, they add.

Plans for the specialist unit were announced by new Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Ian McPherson and the team will be headed by Chief Inspector John Massey, overseeing the work of seven officers.

Police say a high proportion of the local population is made up of minorities, the largest being ethnic minorities and also including gays and lesbians.

Chief Inspector Massey said: "The division needs to be sensitive to the needs of these groups in order to gain their confidence.

"From local consultation we know we need to be more proactive in forging links with minority communities." Ethnic communities account for just over 10 per cent of the police division's quarter of a million population, with 52 per cent of them under the age of 18.

They are mainly of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin and live largely in concentrated wards in Burnley and Pendle.

Chief Inspector Massey added: "We are committed to increasing significantly their confidence in local policing in the coming year, which is one of the reasons we have decided to establish the Communities and Minorities Team."

He said police would use intelligence to prevent racist incidents. "We want to encourage all victims to report incidents, secure in the knowledge that they will be thoroughly investigated and accurately recorded. They should also know that our victim care will be more sympathetic and professional, thanks to closer links between police, Victim Support and other agencies."

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