Barnet one of the most ethnically diverse London boroughs has the fifth highest number of race-hate crimes in London, and the figure is rising.

Research released by the Metropolitan Police on Tuesday shows there were 604 reported incidents of race-hate in Barnet in the period October 2003 to October 2004 nearly two every day, compared with 522 for the same period in the previous year an increase of nearly 16 per cent. The same statistics show that Barnet police's detection rate is also improving.

Det Sgt Ross Walker, of Barnet police, said: "It is encouraging to note that the majority of these incidents are very low level crimes and people are far more willing to report these incidents, confident in the appropriate police response. We also have a detection rate of 27 per cent. There is no discernible pattern or trend that should cause alarm."