Careers in professions including banking, politics, law and journalism are perceived to be closed off to ethnic minorities living and working in Britain, according to a report from Race for Opportunity, Business in the Community’s race diversity campaign.

The report, which surveyed of the attitudes of 1,500 people from all the main ethnic groups living in the UK, including white Britons, reveals that 60% of white respondents saw no barriers to careers in the professions.

The research also shows that almost half of all respondents, including white Britons, perceive the police to be a racist profession, rising to 72% for black Caribbeans, while, over a fifth of black Caribbeans consider the media and legal industries to be either subtly or overtly racist. More than a quarter consider politics as another problem area, rising to 30% when white respondents were excluded and 39% for the black Caribbean group

More than a fifth reported being offended by a racial remark in their place of work with 35% of Chinese workers citing an example, followed by a quarter of Pakistanis.