A SPECIAL panel has been set up to look at the way the Crown Prosecution Service in West Yorkshire handles race cases.

The Race Scrutiny Panel - the first of its kind in the country - was established to build trust and confidence between the CPS and local communities.

It is made up of representatives of Kirklees Racial Equality Council, Bradford Hate Crime Alliance, Leeds Racial Harassment Project, Calderdale Multi-Agency Project and Wakefield Racial Harassment Group.

It aims to meet four times a year and study random samples of cases dealt with by CPS West Yorkshire over the previous three months.

This aims to ensure race cases are dealt with openly and also raise awareness of and promote understanding of how the CPS works in local communities.

Neil Franklin, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS West Yorkshire, said: "The work of the panel will inform how we deal with cases in the future.

"It will help us identify where we could have done things better and ensure that we develop our procedures accordingly.

"By building greater confidence among the public in the work that we do, we also hope to encourage more people to come forward and report crime and be willing to be witnesses and jurors."

He said the panel built on the close relationships the CPS had already built with the area's anti-race hate groups over many years.