Rice prices are soaring because drought has blighted the Basmati crop. A lack of rain has ravaged the harvest across India and Pakistan. And the knock-on effect is that wholesale prices are up in Bradford.

But restaurant owners in the district say the cost of a curry will remain unaffected as other spices are cheaper, keeping overall prices down.

Mumrez Khan, proprietor of the Karachi Restaurant in Neal Street, said wholesale Basmati prices were up by as much as £5 a kilo.

He said prices had gone up from £18 for 20 kilos to around £23.

But he said because of the competition in Bradford prices were unlikely to rise.

"The increases will be absorbed. We have no plans to put up the prices," he said.

Haq's supermarket in Legram's Lane sells around 3,000 kilos of Basmati a week - mainly to families and to some takeaways.

The supermarket was hit by a sudden price hike of around 12 per cent during the last delivery.

And it is thought more increases could be on the way, leading to a possible spate of panic buying.

Mr Abdul Khan, pictured, said: " It came as a total shock to us all when we were given the new prices. There was no warning. But we have heard there are problems with the crop."

Basmati is among the ten best-selling lines at Haq's because it plays such a huge part in the Asian diet.

Mr Khan added: "There may be a shortage as people start to panic buy.

"A lot of American rice is around but that is not as good.

"Usually the price of rice is steady - this is a most unusual situation.

"Flour, for instance, can go up and down, but you don't get that normally with rice."

But he said spices used in curries are getting cheaper so it should not mean curries in restaurants becoming more expensive.

The UK is the biggest importer of Basmati rice in the European Union, with the market worth £46 million.

David Potts, senior lecturer at the Bradford Centre for International Development, said rice is an irrigated crop in Pakistan and hugely dependent on water supplies.

"Most rice has to be flooded and requires a lot of water," he commented. "So if there is a water shortage it is a problem.

"Rainfall in Pakistan is relatively low and therefore agriculture is heavily dependent on irrigation."

A spokesman for the Mumtaz factory and restaurant empire said they were well-stocked up and, as yet, unaffected by the rice price rise.