Of the 5000 complaints received by the CRE in the last six months, 43% were linked to employment.

The most common grievances cited by ethnic minority people are workplace bullying, lack of career progression and being unable to secure interviews.

The latest unemployment figures released from the Office of National Statistics also show that the unemployment rate for ethnic minorities is twice the national average - at over 11%. They also show that a black person is three times more likely to be out of work than a white person.

Kay Hampton, Chair of the CRE said: "This is a triple whammy for ethnic minority people: they find it hard to get a job, they are likely to get paid less and they are still suffering from racial abuse in the work place.

"These startling figures show that racism still blights the lives of thousands of people from communities across Britain.

"People are being put at an extreme disadvantage due to their ethnicity - a Mr. Ahmed is much more likely to struggle to find employment than a Mr. Armstrong and this is absolutely unacceptable.