CHILDREN as young as four play unsupervised on busy street corners by day, while teenagers hurl bricks and bottles at each other by night.

Welcome to Govanhill in Glasgow, where young families who came in search of a better life find themselves caught up in rising racial tensions.

Residents claim toddlers and youngsters, originally from Slovakia or the Czech Republic, are allowed to roam the streets unchecked for hours on end.

That, and other cultural differences, is adding strain to a complex situation leaving the community divided.

Politicians and anti-racism campaigners are urging calm and tolerance, as well as calling for money to be spent on schemes to help integrate Eastern European families.

Tensions are so bad violence has flared on several occasions between groups of Eastern European teenagers and white Scots or Scottish Asians.

This week there was a running battle when up to 20 teenagers threw bottles and bricks at each other for almost an hour in Dixon Avenue.

An 18-year-old Slovakian youth was arrested for alleged possession of an offensive weapon, but witnesses said the fight was triggered by Scots youngsters shouting racist abuse at Eastern Europeans.

A 39-year-old Scot who stays in the area said: "There have been many large-scale fights for about a year.

"I think the Eastern European teenagers stay together for protection from the harassment they get and some locals see them as the problem.

"But the Eastern European families do not seem to be getting much help settling in. The kids don't seem to speak English and I don't think many go to school."

When the Evening Times went to Govanhill, we found concerns about a lack of help on integration.

Many Scots Asians, themselves a minority group, were outspoken about their discomfort with the "Slovakians" (many are, in fact, from the Czech Republic and other countries) who had moved into the area over the past year.

The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 meant free movement of workers from eight "accession countries", with certain restrictions, and has led to hundreds of families coming to Scotland in search of a better life.

However, according to anti-racism campaigners, people from Romany groups who were marginalised for years in former Eastern Bloc countries now risk finding themselves in a similar situation here.

Robina Qureshi, director of the charity Positive Action in Housing, said authorities needed to spend money on schemes to help integration.

She said: "The problem is that, so far, zilch' has been done in terms of support.

"We know there are tensions in Govanhill.

"Some of the conditions people are living in are horrendous. There is serious overcrowding in some flats. A lot of these people, especially from Romania, are incredibly poor and I do not think a lot of people appreciate that."

A police spokeswoman admitted there were tensions in the area and added: "We will continue to provide policing using community police officers, other police resources, and partner agencies."

Govanhill councillor Anne Marie Millar, who has helped set up a fortnightly drop-in advice session for migrants at the Daisy Street community centre, said: "The Irish and Pakistani communities came to Govanhill many years ago and were made welcome, so we must give tolerance and respect to new communities arriving in Glasgow."

The Evening Times asked Glasgow City Council about the possible safety issues of young children roaming streets alone, as shown in our pictures. A social services spokesman said any concerns reported to the authority, regardless of the nationality of a child, would be investigated.

We watched as children - the eldest looked no more than five - ran in and out of shops for 30 minutes and in front of cars in Allison Street, forcing drivers to make emergency stops.

A passing woman who spoke to the children was from the Czech Republic. When asked if she knew where the children's parents were, she pointed to a tenement 50 yards away.

Ariasta Ali, 49, who runs a shop on Langside Road, said: "There is no-one to look after these children. They come in the shop, picking things up.

"They do not know any better. They are too young to understand . Where are the parents?"

Tallad Chaudhry, 35, of Langside Road, said he had reported incidents of fighting between Slovakians and Scots to police.

He said: "It's no longer a good environment to live in here.

I have a two-year-old son and, from the window, he sees young children so he wants to go out and play, but we don't let him."