RACE crimes in Gwent are going unpunished because witnesses are too scared to give evidence, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

A recent report revealed that 35 per cent of the race crime cases dropped in the year 2001 to 2002 were due to witnesses not attending court.

But Chris Woolley, Gwent's chief prosecutor, said although he was concerned about this figure, he hoped a new policy on racist and religious crime would give witnesses more confidence to come forward.

The CPS has pledged to deal with race crimes, and crimes committed because of a victim's religion, "fairly, firmly and robustly".

The Racist Incident Monitoring Scheme Annual Report 2001 to 2002, revealed Gwent to be three per cent above the national average of race crime cases taken to court resulting in a conviction, on 86 per cent.

But Mr Woolley said: "Concern must be raised at the number of cases which had to be dropped because of problems with witnesses. The 2001 to 2002 report revealed that in cases where charges were dropped, 35 per cent of these were due to issues related to witnesses and their non-attendance at court.

"Public awareness of the CPS' commitment to bringing defendants charged with racist and religious offences - and the special measures available to assist witnesses in giving their evidence to the court - will greatly assist us in building confidence and reducing this statistic."

Black and minority ethnic communities and faith communities coming forward to report crimes had to be treated correctly by the criminal justice system, Mr Woolley said.