DARLINGTON'S first black mayor has told of his sadness at increasing problems with racism.

Councillor Roderick Francis said he found the present climate "quite frightening" and appealed to the local community to work together to combat the problem.

"This is a society problem. I have been here for more than 50 years and things have got worse," he said.

"But the problem is in the home itself. This is the 21st Century and yet things are going backwards. It is a bigger problem than you think."

Coun Francis, who was born in Trinidad, said: "When I came I never experienced young children showing signs of racism.

"Yes, there were problems, but not among the young, mostly from adults. In the last ten years I have seen a change in the attitude of children, or at least a minority of them."

He spoke out as a borough council committee considered racism in schools.

Officials say the authority has a good system in place for dealing with racial incidents.