Five Asian businesses were attacked by thugs on the rampage in Baildon.

Traders at two of the targeted shops say they believed the attacks were racially motivated and feared they may have been carried out as 'reprisals' for the terrorist attacks in America.

Two large windows at The Shah Jehan restaurant and takeaway on Northgate were smashed, along with a glass panel in a door at nearby Raj's Spice Hut in the centre of the village.

Windows at three adjoining premises on Cliffe Avenue - the Gulshan Take Away, Cliffe Avenue Chemists, and the Master Chef take away - were broken on the same night.

The Gulshan Take Away was also attacked by vandals the day after the Bradford riots in July.

Tony Lai only took over the lease on Master Chef last week. He plans to re-open the former Indian takeaway as a Chinese takeaway next month.

He said he thought the vandalism was a racial attack and his shop was targeted by people thinking it was still an Indian takeaway.

He said: "It can't just be a coincidence when five similar places have been hit.

"I've been in the UK since I was a kid and have never experienced anything like this before - it's disgusting.

"There's no excuse at all for this but I do think it could be connected to what happened on September 11.

"The vast majority in Baildon are good people but it just takes one or two crackpots for something like this to happen.''

Mohammed Naseem, pictured, of Cliffe Avenue Chemists, said: "The people who did this probably have certain thoughts in their mind and what's happened recently in America has probably just added to that.

"It's a real shame because everyone here is just trying to do their best and get along with each other.

"It's just ignorance and racism.''

A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire Police said police were seeking a white man - aged about 18 or 19 and wearing a baseball cap - spotted near one of the vandalised properties by a witness.

She said officers were examining CCTV footage from a camera at another premises.

Anyone with any information about the vandalism, carried out during the early hours of Saturday, should call police on (01535) 617059.