A white children's illustrator experienced a different side to British society after being transformed into a black man for a television show.

Father-of-two Simon Smith, 35, who describes himself as liberal, is taking part in the BBC's Trading Races programme, screened last night.

During the two-part show, four people have their races changed using make-up and then mingle with the public to gauge reactions.

Mr Smith, of Cotmore Gardens, Thame, heard about the programme through his wife, who met a BBC researcher looking to recruit partic- pants. He spent up to two-and-a-half hours in make-up before each of the eight times that he ventured out in his new skin.

As well as shopping in Oxford and Thame, he went to the Park End Club in Oxford, watched Leicester City play football and visited Brixton.

Mr Smith said he became very assertive -- a character trait he says he does not normally have -- as he was determined not to be stared at or derided because of his colour.

"When I was in Oxford with my wife I got a few stares and there were two lads who looked me in the eye and then just laughed," he said.

"I wanted to confront them, which is very unlike me, and I presumed it was down to my colour. Being black makes race such a dominate feature.

"If it had happened as a white man, I would have questioned if it was my clothes or whatever that was the problem."

Watching his home town club Leicester was also an eye-opener for Mr Smith.

"As a white man, I look around and think that it's nice to see a mixed race crowd but when I went as a black man I realised just how predominately white the crowd is. I was also stared at by lots of people," he said.

He added his experiences showed black people have a far greater sense of pride and interest in their community.

The second part of Trading Races will be shown tonight on BBC 2 at 9pm.