THE congregation of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the many Pentecostal African churches that have sprung up in Dagenham, East London, recently, was pouring on to the street after an Easter service. Men and women, dressed in their finery and clutching prayer books, stood around chatting as their children played near by.

That, though, did not stop a nurse, within earshot of the group, venting her ire at what lay at the root of the area’s problems. “It’s the blacks, the coloureds,” she said. “There’s just too many of them. When you walk down here on a Saturday, it’s like spot the white.” The woman, a middle-aged, white, long-term resident and convert to the British National Party, was unusual in that she declined to give her name.

By far the majority of white people stopped by The Times in Dagenham yesterday confirmed what Margaret Hodge, the Employment Minister, has alleged: that eight out of ten white families planned to vote for the Far Right in the local elections next month.

Many of the older residents were angry at the lack of housing for their children, since immigrants began arriving in the area. Others spoke of the unfair treatment granted to asylum-seekers. Rumours were rife, including the claim put out by the BNP that African families were being induced to move to the area with grants of £50,000.

All were unashamed to speak of their support for the extremist party. Robert Rolph, 57, a long-term Labour supporter, said: “I wouldn’t think twice about voting for BNP. They will do more for the children than Labour.”

He added: “I’m not racist, but it’s the sheer numbers of them. There are thousands of Kosovans, Bosnians, Eastern Europeans. They get benefits that we don’t get.”

His partner, Janice Smith, 51, agreed. She said that she was angry at how people born and bred in the area were left to struggle at the expense of asylum-seekers. “We have Kosovans living next door to us and they are really nice people,” she said. “But she gets food vouchers and a new car and here I am struggling on £70 a week.

“They get preferential treatment. It used to be Africans and now its Eastern Europeans. We are British and we get put at the back of the queue.”

The non-white population of Barking and Dagenham, a once staunchly white, working-class area, went up to 15 per cent in 2001, from 9 per cent in 1991.

Patricia Collins, 45, with her two daughters, Lorraine, 24, and Nicole, 21, said that she would never consider voting for the BNP. She understood, however, why it had such a grip on the area. “People say that asylum-seekers get put up in three-bedroom houses,” she said. “At one point I had six adults and two babies living in my house.”

She said that she and her daughters laughed off leaflets urging then to vote BNP.

For some it is not as easy to laugh off. Adeniyi Onileyan, 41, said: “When I moved here at first I had my car scratched. My son has had problems with racists. I bought my own house but I believe that people should be given free houses if they satisfy the right criteria.”

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