A man was shot dead last night when he confronted two robbers he had chased through the streets of Bradford.

Tasawar Hussain and a friend gave chase after they drove past Madina Travel in Lumb Lane, where a security guard was being attacked and robbed.

The pursuit ended in Jowett Street, near Thornton Road, where Mr Hussain, 36, was shot in the chest as he confronted one of the robbers.

As he lay dying in the road, the robbers fled with their haul which police said was a "substantial quantity of cash".

Their white Nissan Sunny was found a short time later dumped about two miles away in Girlington.

Police said today Mr Hussain was a married man with a young child whose wife is expecting their second baby.

Detective Superintendent Allan Doherty, who is leading an inquiry team of 40 officers, described the murder as "horrific and random violence which was completely unnecessary".

He added: "No other attempt was made to get away from the scene. The shot was the first reaction of the offender."

He said Mr Hussain, who worked at Autoclenz at British Car Auctions in Brighouse, acted "out of extreme bravery". He had no need to intervene he did so out of sense of public duty.

"He was a man of good character, a religious man and an upstanding member of the public."

But he added: "In situations like this people react on instinct, he did not realise the severity of the situation and he paid the ultimate price."

Det Supt Doherty warned members of the public not to approach the suspect: "No-one's life is worth losing in these situations. I urge the public not to put themselves at risk and contact the police to deal with it."

He said the gunman was a white male, aged 27 to 35, with a big round face, of stocky build and wearing a blue woollen hat and three-quarter length coat. The driver of the Nissan was described as a white man.

He said: "The victim was shot in cold blood. It was completely unnecessary. He (the gunman) is very dangerous and should not be confronted."

He said the car, a Nissan Sunny, had been sold about six weeks ago and urged the public to contact the police if they had seen it at any of the locations involved last night or if it had been parked up any where before hand or had been in a petrol station where a CCTV camera might have captured images of the driver.

The drama began shortly before 5.15pm yesterday when a security guard picking up at travel agents in Lumb Lane was attacked in the doorway of Madina Travel.

The robber punched the security guard and snatched a case containing a large amount of cash before running off down Gracechurch Street.

He was chased by a number of customers who had been in the travel agents at the time, but they saw him climb into a the white Nissan parked in Gracechurch Street.

Det Supt Doherty said Mr Hussain and another man who had been driving along Lumb Lane in a silver BMW realised what was happening and gave chase to the robbers.

They followed them for about 500 yards until the Sunny pulled up in Jowett Street, near the junction with Thornton Road.

Mr Hussain got out of the car to confront the robbers. But during the confrontation that followed, he was blasted in the chest with a shotgun. He was taken to the BRI where he was pronounced dead.

The Nissan Sunny drove off along Thornton Road towards City Road. It was later recovered in Girlington following a major police hunt involving the force helicopter and is now being examined by forensic experts.

A number of roads across the city - including a long stretch of Thornton Road close to the Grattan warehouse - were cordoned off by officers.

Det Supt Doherty said Mr Hussain was "simply a passer-by who realised what was happening and tried to do his best to help out."

He added: "He could easily just have driven on and was a very brave man to get involved. Let us give this man credit - he has paid for his bravery with his life."

Det Supt Doherty said he was convinced someone must have seen the robbers during or after the incident at the travel agents, which took place at the height of rush hour.

And detectives believe the attack was targeted at the guard as he made his regular rounds of the Lumb Lane shops.

"Someone has given some thought to this crime," said Det Supt Doherty. "Members of the public may well have seen men watching these premises over the last few weeks. Many, many people must have seen this incident. It is among the most serious offences you can imagine.

"This community is shocked by what has gone on. We can only assure them that the police are treating this matter extremely seriously and we are doing everything we can to trace those responsible."

Ibni Amin, 45, who lives close to the scene of the robbery, said: "This is a terrible and shocking thing to happen. Until a few years ago this was one of the safest places to live and now everything is happening."

Shahid Bhatti, manager of the Bradford Travel Centre, in Lumb Lane, said the security guard called at his shop before going to Medina Travel. He agreed the attack had been well planned.

"It has happened before around here - a number of these agencies have been done over," he said. "We all know the security guard, he has been coming here for a number of years and is a very amiable guy. It is terrible that this can happen here."

Adam Andrady had been working at Champion Hire in Jowett Street when the shooting took place on the pavement outside.

"We were lucky because we would normally have just been leaving work at that time, but fortunately we had a meeting so we were all still inside," he said. "There must have been people who saw this because it is such a busy street. It is frightening when this happens on your doorstep."

Detectives are keen to hear from anyone who may be able to help provide an accurate description of the two suspects, who were both white males. Anyone with information should call (01274) 376459.