A Labour MP has been forced to apologise after saying the only people with "coloured skin" in his constituency "run takeaways".

Wayne David made the remarks to BBC Radio Wales after being asked how much of an issue immigration is in his Caerphilly constituency in terms of the number of people coming in from abroad.

The MP replied: "Well in terms of numbers it's not an issue. I mean the only people who have coloured skin, if you like, are people who run takeaways.

"There are some workers who are migrant workers from the rest of the European Union but the numbers are relatively small.

"But nevertheless people are concerned about it."

His comments come at a time of heightened concern over racism in the wake of Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union in a referendum after the Leave campaign focused on immigration as a major issue.

The number of hate crime incidents reported to a national police portal since the EU referendum has been five times the typical weekly level, with 331 incidents from polling day on Thursday June 23 to Wednesday this week reported to the True Vision online site - equivalent to 47 every day.

Mr David apologised for his remarks on Friday, tweeting: "I apologise for any offence I may have caused for remarks on Radio yesterday. Ethnic minorities play a vitally important role in our society.

"Now more than ever, it is vitally important to combat racism in Caerphilly Borough and elsewhere."