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The Kent chief constable - who has two undergraduate degrees and two postgraduate degrees - says that black ethnic minority officers "will often have to work twice as hard to be recognised, to compete with their peers and that is a big concern”.

Mr Fuller is seen as a potential successor to Sir Ian Blair, who resigned as Metropolitan Police Commissioner last week under pressure from Mr Johnson over a number of controversies including racism allegations.

Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner, has however today defended the force's record on race.

“Much has been achieved since the Macpherson report was published but I am not complacent and recognise more must be done not only by us but also with the Met BPA’s full support and engagement," said Sir Paul.

“The MPS now has three times as many black and minority ethnic officers as 10 years ago and approximately 20 per cent of new recruits in to MPS police training come from a black or minority ethnic background.”

Alfred John, the Metropolitan Black Police Association’s chairman, disagreed, claiming that opportunities for advancement at Scotland Yard had declined since the Macpherson report.

Asked whether it had got worse, Mr John added: “It has indeed, the progression of black staff is in fact worse now than it was 10 years ago.”

He said there were now less black and ethnic minority staff and officers in senior positions than before the Macpherson report, despite an additional 2,000 black and ethnic minority recruits.

“I think that it’s a reflection on British society,” he told the Today programme.

“I don’t want to take away from a lot of the progress that the organisation has made. However, when it comes to progression and when it comes to discipline issues, it’s still exceptionally disproportionate behaviour and to the detriment of black and minority staff.”

He defended the association's boycott call. “If it gets too oppressive within the organisation it is inherently dangerous for us to be encouraging people to join and walking into what we consider to be a hostile environment.

“In that it is dangerous that they will face racism, oppression - we have seen over the past few weeks what can happen to senior managers who speak out about racism and discrimination that is taking place within the organisation.

“We need to create an atmosphere where people do not feel oppressed to bring these problems forward so that we can deal with it.”

A survey of members of the Black Police Association undertaken by Panorama found that two thirds of those questioned believed that their career had been hindered by their race, and nearly three quarters felt they had experienced racism at work.

One member said: “I’ve been treated worse than my parents in the sixties. It’s all very well hidden, no racist words - you’re just never good enough for promotion.”

The programme highlights an incident that took place two weeks ago in which two Asian transport police sergeants found the Ku Klux Klan emblem and other racist graffiti scraped into their lockers at their station in Stockwell, London.

British Transport Police confirmed that an investigation had been launched into the incident, saying it “does not tolerate racist behaviour”.

Scotland Yard is already embroiled in an acrimonious race row with the country’s most senior Asian police officer, Tarique Ghaffur.

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