Candidates for council jobs are being turned down because of their foreignsounding names, a damning new report has revealed.

This is just one of a series of racism, bullying and discrimination allegations facing Brighton and Hove City Council in a study published yesterday.

Council bosses have been warned the authority faces legal action under discrimination laws if changes are not made.

The council admitted yesterday that progress was needed and said an action plan was being drawn up which will be put to councillors in July.

According to the report, which was commissioned by the council, Irish staff are subjected to jokes about their accents and drinking alcohol, Bangladeshi employees persistently ignored for job applications, and candidates turned down for posts because they had foreign sounding names.

When people reapplied with anglicised names, their applications were shortlisted.

Staff have told how there is a “climate of fear, intimidation and autocratic rule” that isn’t addressed over fear of “rocking the boat” while others claimed senior council staff were “afraid of diversity over fear they’ll get it wrong and be called a racist”.

One employee spoke of the council’s “seedy underbelly”.

Another described how she made up to 25 job applications and had seven interviews before being given a new role in administration.

She told the researcher: “I saw dismay in the manager’s face when she realised I spoke with an accent. “I was there only for a week, and she used baby talk with me all the time.”

Even on LGBT issues, the council faced criticism. One worker said: “The council portrays an image – with Stonewall for example – that they are really behind this, and they don’t condone homophobic bullying.

"But the reality is very different. When bullying is reported the perpetrators are not held to account.”

Black or ethnic minority (BME) employees were more likely to be employed in the most junior job grades at the council, less likely to be middle managers and far less likely to be senior managers.

A significant drop in the number of BME staff offered posts was recorded by the council, falling from 7.8% in 2010/2011 to just 2.9% 2011/12.

In addition, BME staff were nearly twice as likely to be disciplined compared to other staff.

One black staff member told Global HPO, the report’s authors: “My friends and family ask me why I work for the council. Everyone knows that this is not a great place to work if you’re black.”

Bert Williams MBE, from Brighton and Hove Black History, said it wasn’t the first time people have suspected “institutionalised racism” in the council.

He said: "I’m surprised that things haven’t changed from the 1970s onwards. Nothing has changed at all."

Brighton and Hove City Council declined to respond to specific questions.

In a statement prior to the report’s release, Councillor Leo Littman, deputy chairman of the policy and resources committee and BME Champion, said: “I will be working hard with senior officers, our BME staff and the wider BME community to make sure that the council learns important lessons from this review and that we take positive action to make a real difference.”

Catherine Vaughan, executive director of finance and resources, said: “This report is really important. Some services and teams in the council have excellent practice and a number of BME staff were very positive about their experience of working for Brighton and Hove City Council.”