(<a href=www.alphagalileo.org target=_blank>alphagalileo) Research, published today by University of Leicester investigators, draws on studies by experts across the country and echoes claims made recently by Chair of the CRE Trevor Phillips that the countryside is a place "in which people from ethnic minorities feel uncomfortable". The studies reveal a rural arena worlds apart from the cosy imagery with which it is typically associated; an arena where minority ethnic households can suffer isolation and exclusion from communities unfamiliar with people from different cultural, religious or ethnic backgrounds, and where this unfamiliarity can often manifest itself through the use of racist language and violence. (...) Neil Chakraborti, Lecturer in Criminology, said: "We, together with other contributors, have found disturbing levels of racial prejudice and victimisation in various rural environments, and yet have encountered complacency amongst many policy makers and stakeholders in rural affairs who remain reluctant to even acknowledge the existence of racism". Jon Garland, Research Fellow, said: "Our publication, Rural Racism, seeks to highlight key issues, concerns and preventative strategies that are belatedly receiving recognition at a local and national level. In putting this together, it is our sincere hope that we can raise awareness of issues that have, to date, received far too little attention."