Almost a third of white people believe they are the victims of racism in public services according to a Government survey.

The latest Citizenship Survey for England and Wales, which covers April 2007 to March 2008 and is produced by the Department for Communities and Local Government, questioned 15,000 people.

It found that 29 per cent of white people expect to be treated worse than other groups by at least eight of the public services including local housing organisations, police, prisons, courts and Crown Prosecution Service.

However the proportion of people from minority ethnic groups who felt they would be treated worse than other races by at least one of eight public service organisations went down from 38 per cent in 2001 to 34 per cent in 2007-08.

The survey provides data on a range of issues including social housing, volunteering, civic engagement, community cohesion, racial and religious prejudice, values and charitable giving.

It revealed that 25 per cent of white people thought council housing departments or housing associations would discriminate against them, up from 15 per cent in 2001 While 11 per cent of those from minority ethnic groups felt those organisations would be prejudiced against them.

The survey found that 56 per cent of the people surveyed feel there is now more racial prejudice in Britain than five years ago.

More white people (58 per cent) believe this than those from minority ethnic groups (32 per cent).

The survey also found that a total of 84 per cent of British people said they felt they belonged strongly to the country, but Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi people living in the UK felt stronger ties to the country than whites.

The results also showed that the number of white people who thought they had been turned down for a job because of the colour of their skin increased to 3 per cent from 1 per cent in 2003.