Veterans from ethnic minority backgrounds are nearly a quarter less likely to find employment than their white counterparts, new figures suggest.

Former Commission for Racial Equality chairman Lord Ouseley said it was "unacceptable" such a disparity existed between veterans of different races, as he urged the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to do more to tackle the problem.

Data released to Parliament by defence minister Earl Howe says 68% of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) servicemen and women found work within six months of leaving the forces, having accessed MoD career services.

This compares to 87% of white service leavers accessing the same help to get back into work, the figures say.

Earl Howe says these statistics are similar to the employment figures in the wider population, and the MoD strived to improve employment prospects for this group of service leavers.

But crossbench peer Lord Ouseley, who obtained the figures via a parliamentary question, said: "This is an area of discrimination that has been under the radar for some time.

"For those BAME personnel leaving the armed services, having given loyal service to Queen and country, to then be denied equal and fair treatment in finding suitable work when they leave the services, should be a bigger concern for the Ministry of Defence than it appears to be at present.

"It is unacceptable that BAME personnel experience greater difficulties in being resettled into civilian life and also suffer from longer periods of unemployment than their white counterparts.

"If it is not down to racial discrimination, what are the explanations for such unequal outcomes?"

Lord Ouseley has now called for "specific and urgent attention" to be given to the reasons behind such a dramatic difference between white and BAME veterans.

Responding to Lord Ouseley's question, Earl Howe said the latest Government data showed the employment rate among BAME people in the general population was 63%.

"This demonstrates that serving in the armed forces enhances the employment prospects of BAME service leavers when they choose to enter the employment market at the end of their military career," he said.

"The MoD and the career transition pathway strive to further improve the employment prospects of BAME service leavers and to work with other Government departments to help overcome potential societal barriers which may be experienced by some.

"The MoD is not aware of any specific civilian employment discrimination related to the military service of BAME service leavers."

The latest MoD statistics show that 89% of those who used the MoD's career transition pathway were white.

Currently, ethnic minorities make up just 7% of the armed forces compared to 12% of the British workforce overall.

At officer level, black and ethnic minorities make up just 2.4% of the total workforce.

The MoD says it is now working towards ensuring 10% of new recruits are from ethnic minority backgrounds by 2020, at both soldier and officer level.

Kirsten Oswald, the SNP's armed forces spokeswoman, said: "It's very disappointing that the post-service employment figures for BAME veterans are so far below the levels of employment secured by their white counterparts.

"In fact, the numbers of service personnel securing employment post-service are already demonstrably lower than they ought to be, and the MoD must address both of these issues, raising the bar for all our military personnel by ensuring that the training and support provided allows the best possible opportunity to secure sustainable employment post service."