AN audit of the top 100 public employers in Worcestershire to discover the efforts being made to ensure racial equality threw up "appalling" results, it has been revealed.

More than 70 per cent did not have any action plan to meet their legal duty under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.

The audit was conducted a year after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry - hailed as "a watershed for race relations".

The report into the A-Level student's death accused the Metropolitan Police of racism, professional incompetence and bad leadership over its handling of the crime.

When it was published in February, 1999, a number of public bodies joined forces to herald its findings as ones that should have a positive impact on the future.

Worcestershire Racial Equality Council threw the spotlight on a host of organisations including the county council, police and health authority during its audit.

WREC's annual report, revealed at a meeting on Tuesday night, said the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 had "significantly strengthened" Britain's race relations legislation.

"Although there is now clear evidence of progress, particularly in reporting and recording racist incidents, there is still a huge complacent culture in Worcestershire," the report states.

"We carried out an audit of the top 100 public authorities in Worcestershire to explore what they were doing to ensure racial equality in their organisations. The results were appalling. Over 70 per cent did not have any measurable action plant to meet their legal duty under the Act.

"We will now be working closely with these organisations to transform the cultural and institutional environment within which public bodies work."

WREC's former chief executive Waqar Azmi, who has quit his role to take up a new post with a global consultancy company, said at the time the audit was announced he feared many organisations were simply "paying lip service" to the Stephen Lawrence report.