The number of people prosecuted for racially motivated crimes in Sussex soared by 73 per cent last year, according to a report published today.

The Crown Prosecution Service in Sussex said it dealt with 76 defendants for racist crimes between April 2001 and March 2002.

Seventy-three per cent of charges resulted in guilty pleas and 14 per cent in convictions following trial, the Racist Incident Monitoring Scheme's annual report said.

Forty-three per cent of charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence, 16 per cent because witnesses did not appear at court, and 11 per cent because witnesses refused to give evidence.

Eighteen per cent of charges were dropped on public interest grounds, often because the defendant was in prison or charged with more serious offences.

The conviction rate in England and Wales was 83 per cent, the same as the year before.

The percentage of charges dropped in Sussex is about the same as the national average.

Sussex's chief crown prosecutor Alison Saunders said victims had more confidence that police and the courts would take racist crime seriously and more people were coming forward.

She said she was encouraged by the high conviction rate and the large number of guilty pleas showed police were building strong cases against offenders.