A leading community figure has said prominent government ministers should visit Bradford to help heal its wounds.

Bary Malik, president of the Ahmadiyyah mosque in Bradford, a magistrate and a member of Bradford ethnic minority police liaison committee, said he feels a ministerial visit would enable the government to see for themselves the damage caused by the riots and help get the city back on track.

"I feel immense sadness but also anger about what has happened here in Bradford,'' said Mr Malik.

"Nothing has been learned from the riots of 1995 and we are back where we started from.

"But this is worse and I truly believe that there are going to be innocent lives lost if we do not do something immediately to avert this crisis situation.

"The riots have been the worst and most serious disturbances to rock Britain in recent years.''

He added: ''Mainland Britain has not seen anything like it, so equally serious action must be taken."