A landlord whose two businesses went up in smoke during the Bradford riots says he has been left to feel like a leper in the city he loves.

Arthur Midgley said he has nothing but the clothes he stands up in after Arthur's Bar was burned out by rioters.

And, almost two weeks after their home and business was destroyed, Mr Midgley and his wife Jean are still homeless and waiting for their insurers to pay up.

Up to 300 Asian youths targeted Arthur's Bar in Manningham at the height of the rioting.

When bricks began flying through the pub's windows, Mr Midgley was warned: "You've got five minutes before we fire the joint."

The couple only had time to rescue their two cats and dog before the youths were in the pub. They looted the bar and upstairs accommodation before setting it alight.

The rioters then moved on to the couple's second pub, the Junction Hotel, which was also badly damaged, along with their two vans.

Mr Midgley described how he watched events unfold from a neighbouring old people's home.

"I saw them walking down the road drinking the whisky they had taken from my bar," he said. "It was awful.

"I felt angry, upset and mad. These were criminals - they weren't the local Asian crowd that I know from around here; these men had masks over their faces.

"Some of them were just little kids with petrol bombs and baseball bats. They don't know how strong I am, they don't know that I have had heart problems. But it didn't bother them. They wouldn't have cared."

The couple have spent every day since the riots trying to clean up the mess in the Junction, and have been sleeping at a relative's house.

"I have a terrible feeling in my stomach when we come in every morning," said 60-year-old Mr Midgley.

"Every window is boarded up so we feel a bit safer now, but we won't stay in this area at night - we are gone long before it gets dark. Even when we are driving around after dark, we always make sure we avoid this area."

He said the couple - who have managed pubs across Bradford - have been left isolated and helpless.

"It feels like it is just me and Jean now. Where before people would stop and talk to us, now it is as though they feel ashamed to know us. It is horrible. A really terrible feeling."

The couple are also angry that seven days after loss assessors visited the wrecked premises, they are still waiting to hear if the insurers will pay up.

Mr Midgley said he was hoping for £300,000 - enough to completely re-build the gutted premises. But he fears the eventual payment may be as much as £100,000 less than that because the insurers were claiming that some walls could be retained.

Loss adjuster Ray Sumner, acting for Mr Midgley, said he could understand why his client was angry about the delay.

But he said: "This is nothing unusual. The insurance company have only had the report for a couple of days to study. Everything is straight forward, but they just want to make sure that the policy will cover the claim.

"I am unaware of any insurance company that would have dealt with it any quicker."

But Mr Midgley claimed the loss adjusters, were "loathe" to offer him hotel accommodation while the claim was being dealt with.

He said: "We are in no better position than we were this time last week. They said we could have a caravan for a fortnight if we wanted, but that was it."

However, Pearl Assurance, Mr Midgley's insurers, said they were dealing with the case quickly and that the couple had been offered alternative accommodation arrangements.

"We had a loss adjuster out the very next day, which was as soon as possible.

"We have already agreed to a payment to cover things such as clothing, and he will receive that imminently," a spokesman said.

"I know that this has been a large loss for him but we are dealing with the claim as quickly as we can."