By Cindi John BBC News community affairs reporter

Jeremy Heap is looking forward to moving to his new home

Jeremy Heap is standing outside the council flat which will soon become his new home.

He's excited and looking forward to moving in. A normal reaction for someone who's been some time on the waiting list but Jeremy's move goes against the established grain in Oldham.

For he is a white man moving into the predominately Asian area of Glodwick. Overall four out of every ten of the 11,000 inhabitants in the ward of St Mary's, of which Glodwick is part, are of Pakistani or Bangladeshi descent.

It's rare to see a white face in Glodwick Road and even rarer in Waterloo Street at the heart of the Glodwick district.

It will be the first time that Jeremy has lived in an area of Oldham where white people are not in the majority. And he says a few years ago he would never have contemplated it, especially after the racially-motivated violence of May 2001.

There's more mixing going on than when I first moved here eight years ago, then it was definitely just whites on this street Rachel Brookbank Divide 'remains' after riots

"I wasn't keen on the area before but it's quieter now, I've got a flat here and it's better than nothing," he says.

But Jeremy's friend Annette Turner from Failsworth, a largely white district of Oldham, is adamant she would never venture into Glodwick after dark.

"I won't come here at night because it's just a no-go for whites. The problems have never got better, there are still no-go areas, it's unbelievable. There are areas where whites can't go and they can't come into ours."

'Non-traditional areas'

Such comments bring to mind the "parallel lives" described by Ted Cantle in his report for the Home Office on the causes of the racially-motivated violence in Oldham and a string of northern towns and cities five years ago.

Oldham residents air their views on racial integration In pictures

Just five miles away the Saddleworth ward has a population which is 97% white. And even within Glodwick there are few streets where white and Asian people live side by side.

Moves like Jeremy Heap's are part of a policy by First Choice Homes, the company which manages Oldham's Council's housing stock, to encourage more integration.

Equalities and cohesion manager Uspar Miah, says a lot of effort is put into supporting those who move into areas where they will be very much in the minority. The policy is not just dictated by a desire to integrate communities but also by practicality and a dwindling stock of houses.

"What we found is the Asian families require larger homes but larger homes tend to be in what are considered "non-traditional areas" for Asian families - very strong indigenous white areas.

"And some of the smaller houses were in the Asian areas. So obviously that balance was something we had to redress."

And he says, with the correct backing, those who move into "non-traditional" areas settle down well.

"In the last financial year we supported more than 140 families moving into what are classed as non-traditional areas. Out of those 140 only one person hasn't stayed."

There's a lot of deprivation among the ethnic communities so it's difficult for them to move Councillor Riaz Ahmad

Local Rachel Brookbank agrees Oldham is becoming more integrated. She has seen changes in her area of Glodwick.

"Where I live there are mostly white families but there's more mixing going on than when I first moved here eight years ago, then it was definitely just whites on this street," she says.

'Deprivation'

St Mary's councillor and former Oldham mayor Riaz Ahmad - whose house was firebombed during the 2001 disturbances - backs the drive to create more racially-mixed areas.

Efforts are being made to integrate Oldham's distinct communities

Mr Ahmad says the predominance of Asians in Glodwick does not reflect a desire to remain separate from the white community.

"There's a lot of deprivation among the ethnic communities so it's difficult for them to move, even if they would like to move they can't afford to because they're unemployed or on a low wage."

Mohammed Ansar of Glodwick's Pakistani community centre says that even after the troubles of 2001, they still do not have the resources to deal with the deprivation in the area.

"I have not seen much improvement in facilities for ethnic minorities particularly youth facilities. There are only two sessions per week of a youth club in the whole of Glodwick and that's an improvement as they had nothing before," Mr Ansar says.

"So there are limitations, we need a lot more resources to serve the people around here efficiently and effectively, to really address their issues."