The number of racist hate crimes recorded in Fife rocketed by almost 50% in a year, shock new figures show.
Scottish Government data showed there were 205 incidents reported to Fife Constabulary in 2010/11, up from 139 the year before.
The ”worrying” rise came despite there being fewer racially motivated crimes in Scotland as a whole.
The Fife force said the increase could be partially explained by a change in the way it records hate crimes.
A spokesman said: ”During a routine review of business processes, it was ascertained that the current process for recording racist crimes and incidents could be further enhanced to provide a more victim-centred approach.”
But Mid Scotland and Fife MSP John Park expressed concern about the figures.
”While it is welcome if Fife Constabulary have tightened up its recording procedures, the picture it paints of racism in Fife is very worrying,” said the Labour MSP.
”I know from my own experience that a lot of migrant workers have been brought into the area, with companies undercutting local wages and this has created sensitivity and that may well be a factor.
”We will now need to see what the figure will be for the next year and it would be my hope that the figure would start to come down.”
There was no change in the number of recorded incidents in Tayside, where the figure remained at 284 for both years.
Across Scotland there were 4,907 racist incidents in 2010-11, down from the 4,960 reports logged the previous year and 8% lower than 2006-07.
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But more up-to-date Crown Office prosecution statistics, published last month, show more charges for racism and other forms of hatred were reported to the procurator fiscal in 2011-12.
The number of charges linked to racist crimes increased by 8% from 4,178 to 4,518, a six-year high.
Community Safety Minister Roseanna Cunningham said: ”Hatred of any kind has no place in modern Scotland and we need to do everything we can to stop it wherever and whenever it occurs, whilst tackling the root causes.
”While these figures show a decrease in incidents in 2010-11, we cannot be complacent, particularly as we saw new prosecution figures being published last month which show an increase in racist charges this year.
”That is why we must continue with the work we are doing to tackle racism and hatred in all its forms while constantly looking at new ways of getting across the message to the next generation of young Scots.”
The new statistics show that where ethnic origin of the victim was known, 24% were Pakistani, while 46% were of Asian origin, such as Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Chinese.
The cases in which age and gender was known in 2010-11, almost half (46%) of the perpetrators of were 20 or under.
Racist incidents most commonly occurred on Friday and Saturday nights and a third of them took place in the street.
Ms Cunningham, the Perthshire South and Kinross-shire MSP, said: ”The fact that so many of these incidents are happening on Friday and Saturday nights underlines the importance of our efforts to tackle the booze culture which is damaging our communities.
”The Scottish Government will not tolerate racist behaviour of any kind, whether on the street, in a pub or club, in our workplaces or at a football match, and we back our police and prosecutors in punishing offenders for their shameful behaviour.”
Last month Dunfermline student Mark Chalmers was ordered to carry out 100 hours of community service after admitting racially abusing SPL footballer Gregory Tade on Twitter.
The government has provided almost £15m for projects to address racism and bigotry over the next few years.
Photo by Andrew Milligan/PA Archive