POLICE have launched an ­investigation after a teenage ­Scottish footballer was reduced to tears by racial abuse during a match.

East Stirlingshire said the abuse, including monkey noises, from a group in the crowd was so bad that the team's full-back Jordan Tapping, 17, had to be substituted during Saturday's 4-0 defeat at Peterhead.

Police said they had already started interviewing witnesses at the north-east club's Balmoor ground and officials have pledged to track down the culprits.

Both teams were outraged by the treatment of Tapping, of Larbert, Stirlingshire, who is rated by his club as a future ­Scotland prospect.

The schoolboy, who is in his first season with the second ­division side, was substituted after fellow players complained to the referee about a group of supporters behind the goal area at the stadium.

Tapping's team-mate, defender Chris Townsley, said the situation was chaotic.

He said: "I've never heard anything like that before or come across any racist incidents. It was completely out of the blue and I think that was part of the problem - nobody knew what they should do.

"It was coming from behind the goal. Myself and a Peterhead player both spoke to the referee about it but he said 'I need to hear it'. It was basically 'if he didn't hear it, it wasn't happening'.

"But how is he going to hear it if he's in the middle of the pitch and it's coming from behind the goal?

"Jordan was visibly upset, but we were all in limbo I think. We just didn't know how to handle it and eventually Jordan was substituted."

Police are appealing for fans who were in the stand and overheard the alleged abuse to come forward. They are understood to have been alerted to the incident by the media, rather than either club.

Peterhead are also carrying out their own investigation to identify the alleged culprits.

The club said it had reacted swiftly to the situation.

A statement said: "The head steward approached the group where the comments were alleged to have come from, although no witnesses came forward.

"The club chairman, general manager and safety officer all made personal apologies to the East Stirlingshire management team and to the player involved.

"The club officials also approached the match officials who advised that while they were made aware of the alleged comments, they also did not witness or hear the comments themselves.

"The club would like to ­emphasise the very strong ­anti-racism policy which it has laid down."

It also said that it would continue its investigation to catch the culprits.

East Stirlingshire chairman Tony Ford said: "He is a young boy who comes from a fantastic family and is probably wondering why he has been targeted like this. He's probably thinking 'what's the good of bothering [with the game]? His family is quite upset."

A match report will be ­submitted to the Scottish Premier Football League within the next 24 hours.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: "We will be liaising closely with both football clubs to thoroughly investigate this incident which, at this time, would appear to have involved a small minority of people.

"We ask any supporters who saw or heard anything of a racist nature to get in touch with Police Scotland on the non emergency number 101."