SHILPA SHETTY - APACHE INDIAN QUITS UK BECAUSE DUE TO 'UNBELIEVABLE RACISM'

Pop star APACHE INDIAN has sparked controversy by announcing he wants to leave Britain because of the "absolutely unbelievable" racism he has encountered. The singer, real name STEVEN KAPOOR, scored seven British hit singles in the 1990s with his unique mix of Indian folk music and reggae, but is so disillusioned with alleged racism in British schools, prisons and workplaces he has vowed to escape to Jalandhar, India, where his family comes from. His comments are set to fuel the racism row currently engulfing Britain, after Bollywood star SHILPA SHETTY was allegedly a victim of racist abuse on British reality TV show CELEBRITY BIG BROTHER last week (begs15JAN07). He fumes, "In the last 10 years, there's so much racism in the UK. It's absolutely unbelievable. Kids going to school, getting called by names such as P**i, this name and that name. It makes my blood boil. But what can you do? It's freedom of speech. They are trying to tackle this problem in schools but it's a big problem. "(There is) racism within jobs, racism within prison, within everyday life things, which is creeping into more and more into people's minds because of terrorism, because of migration problems, work, because of things like that. "I have made a decision to leave. The answer is leave. For me, just leave the country and let them find out how much work we have done to build those countries and without us, they'll really miss us."