Shadow education secretary David Willetts said new academies set up by charities and other organisations could help improve relations through such measures.

"There are parts of England where our towns are divided by race and religion into two very distinct groups," he said.

"In those communities which are deeply divided we could use the creation of new academies to improve links between the communities by setting the aim of recruiting students from both those communities.

"It is a free country, so no-one can be forced to apply for a school and we don't want to bus children around. But we do see potential for a positive role in tackling the growing ethnic segregation in our schools."

News of the Tory policy emerged as new Government figures showed an increasing number of schools in England had an overwhelming majority of pupils of a single ethnic background.

Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire is reportedly worst affected, with four of nine secondary schools attracting more than 90% of students from a single community.