About 120 women shared food and gossip to celebrate the religious festivals of Christmas, Diwali and Eid.

The lively event, organised by Bradford Women's Forum, was open to women from across the district and from all communities.

The forum provided some curries and rice at Carlisle Business Centre in Manningham yesterday lunchtime, but also asked guests to bring along typical and traditional food for all three festivals.

The result was a banquet of chapattis, pakoras, samosas, mince pies, Christmas cake, mulled fruit juice, sweet rice, hand-made biscuits, sandwiches and cheeses. Anne Griffin, Shakeela Khaliq and Gurpaul Sandhu are pictured enjoying the cultural feast.

The women tucked in and were asked to sit next to someone they did not know. Forum member Anne Griffin said: "The noise was tremendous, as people were chatting about themselves.

"We played Christmas music and other music suitable for festivals. The idea behind it was about sharing food and cultures."

The group had made a display depicting the three festivals.

It included Santa Claus and a Christmas tree, a picture of the Hindu god Ganash and lights to symbolise Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, as well as Eid clothes for the Islam festival.