A MIRFIELD film-maker has been forced by police into changing the title of his controversial new movie.

Navdeep Singh Kandola, 34, planned to call his `dark comic love story' Paki Slag - but West Yorkshire Police made him change it over fears it could stir racial hatred.

Screen Yorkshire, which provided £20,000 funding for the film, threatened to pull funding unless the title was changed.

Navdeep, who runs media company Hive Central, has re-named the film PS.

But he is not happy.

He claimed his hand had been forced by the police threatening to prosecute him for inciting racial hatred.

He said: "I'm Asian and have been called Paki countless times. So why can't I re-appropriate the word?"

Navdeep said the phrase Paki slag - used to describe white girls who date Pakistani boys - was commonly used when he was growing up in Mirfield and provided the inspiration for his film.

The film, shot at Mirfield's London Park Estate and in Ravensthorpe last summer, tells of a Pakistani boy called Zeeshan and his white girlfriend, Crystal, who face prejudice from both their communities.

Navdeep believes there are still tensions between the two communities in North Kirklees - a fact which he says is being exploited by the British National Party.

He said: "Many viewers will find it hard to believe attitudes like this still exist in today's Britain.

"The white and Pakistani communities are highly segregated. The film is an indictment of the ignorance and prejudice in both communities."

The movie has its premiere at the Renoir Cinema in Russell Square, London, on April 28. The day after there will be a party and a first open screening at The Apple Tree Pub in Clerkenwell.

A spokesman from West Yorkshire Police denied Navdeep's claims that police had tried to stop filming by sending out a helicopter to disrupt the shoot.

However, he said concerns had been raised about the title.

He said: "We are concerned about anything which might raise tensions within our communities and we raised these concerns, particularly around the title which is clearly likely to cause offence, with the film maker."