John O'Connor, a retired Flying Squad commander, said it was not good enough for the deputy commissioner of the Met, Craig Mackey, to "wash his hands" of such incidents and wanted a more proactive approach to rooting out racism within the force.

A former detective chief inspector and founding member of the National Black Police Association, David Michael, said the force should use outside help to address police racism.

The controversy has engulfed the Met after the Guardian published a recording in which an officer could allegedly be heard racially abusing a detained 21-year-old. On Thursday, a number of other Met officers were referred or re-referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission for investigation over alleged racist incidents, bringing the number of investigations to 10.

AFP - Fears grew Friday that a serial killer was stalking housing estates in the suburbs of Paris, where the same weapon has been used to murder four apparently innocent citizens since November.

The latest killing on Thursday of a 47-year-old mother, shot dead near her home in the Essonne suburb, prompted Interior Minister Claude Gueant to vow every effort was being made to find the killer.

All the victims were shot with the same small-calibre 7.65 mm weapon by a gunman who fled on a motorbike, recalling the methods of an Islamist extremist killed by police in southern France in March after murdering seven people.

New legislation comes into force today aimed at cutting down the number of people who smoke.

The new law will prevent large shops and supermarkets displaying tobacco products to the public.

Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, told the BBC today that the new law was an attempt to reduce the number of young people who smoke, by lowering the visibility of the products.

He also said the move was aimed at supporting smokers who want to give up, and ensure "we no longer see smoking as a part of life".

"There's more than a third of smokers who say they want to stop. Each year we have nearly 800,000 smokers who try to quit, 50 per cent succeed.