Sir - I have followed with horror the recent reports of the racial disturbances in Bradford, a city with which I am familiar and very fond of as my daughter and her family live there.

As I am not a resident, the undercurrents of unease are not evident and I see only a city which has everything to offer both from its Asian and European residents.

My grandchildren have both, since early childhood, had Asian and European friends. To them these outbursts of violence are almost impossible to understand.

I beseech all of those who have been involved in recent happenings to remember these children and thousands like them who do not have these feelings of racial hatred.

Let them continue to grow up, Asian and European children alike, in an atmosphere where they care about all their fellow residents and only want to live in peace and friendship with their neighbours.

Bradford is a wonderful city. What has happened in the last few days doesn't need to change that, so let's try and get things back on track,for everybody's sake but particularly for the sake of the children.

Mrs Ann Giorgi, Casale Giorgi, Prato Lungo Km 1,000, 02039 Toffia (RI), Italy.

Sir - Today was a sad day for me as a Bradfordian.

I awoke to the horrible news on our TV here in New York, and in the local newspaper I get every day, that Bradford was in a siege that was of epic proportions.

I had neighbours and friends call me, and ask me if I knew where Bradford was? I had to admit that it was my former home town. What a disgrace.

The thugs, whether Asian or white, should be hunted down, like the animals that they are, and put on trial. Pity that public hangings are a thing of the past.

As a wife and mother of police officers, I think that turning on water hoses is the only thing to break up a mob and that's what this was. Shame on those people, I hope they are satisfied now that the whole world is looking down on them, and shaking their heads in disbelief.

Diane Duguid, E.4th St, Deer Park, New York, USA.

Sir - Like the majority of Asian people, I have been disgusted by the behaviour of the hooligans involved in the weekend's riots.

Whatever the socio-economic factors are, there are other ways to express yourself.

I have to go to work every day, work with white colleagues and friends. I do not wish to spend all my time trying to "justify" criminal activity because I can't.

However, I do deal with people of all races every day. I have to travel to estates like Holme Wood which are deemed as mainly white. I have never had trouble before but now I have to think about whether I should go or not. I shouldn't have to.

Once again it is the majority who will suffer because of the minority.

N Shah, Manchester Road, Bradford BD5

Sir - As someone who was born and raised in Bradford, the events of the last few days have left me shocked and saddened.

I moved from Bradford in 1996 but have been back many times to visit family and friends. My opinion of race relations in Bradford prior to last weekend's disturbances was that they were in a 'healthy' state.

I lived in the city for 26 years and, like many of my peers, shared an optimistic outlook of the multi-cultural environment I lived in. Recent events, however, have allowed the veil to fall and we've discovered that, in fact, Bradford is a melting pot for the extreme elements of society.

I now realise that all parties across the racial divide have an attitude of dissasisfaction with the reality of their surroundings.

In short, these riots are not motivated by fundamental political ideals, but by the simple fact that all those involved are thugs whose only form of expression is via acts of violence.

The truth is that thugs on either side have destroyed 40 years of community relations and destroyed the city of Bradford in the process. I'm sorry to say that Bradford as the 'model of multi-culturalism' in the 21st Century is finished, over, smashed into a million pieces.

The light at the end of the tunnel turned out to be a train coming head on.

James Fisher, Stukeley Street, London.

Sir - The fallout from the weekend's riots is much more far-reaching than any Council or community leaders will admit.

As a person who has spent most of my life living Bradford, I find myself now in an indefensible position. For years friends from afar have used the old joke about Bradford being an area of deprivation and queried the wisdom as to why I choose to live in Bradford.

The reality is that it's a tough choice upping your roots. I live in Wibsey and vigorously defend the area as one of prosperity and peace. But after Saturday night, the shockwaves will reach much further than just the Manningham area of Bradford.

People in the outer areas of Bradford have had enough of the attempts to encourage these people who don't want to have respect for their surroundings. We no longer want to fund the inner-city development through our taxes etc just to see it destroyed.

If a strong solution isn't found, you will see the people of Bradford, those people who have a tradition dating back hundreds of years, leaving in droves and then the trouble-causing minority will have won.

A Redmonds, Folly Hall Avenue, Wibsey, Bradford BD6.

Sir - The perpetrators of the mindless violence in Manningham over the weekend should not be spared from justice. I utterly condemn their actions, as I condemn the extremist tendencies that triggered these riots.

However, I feel that those looking for a reason for these disturbances may be missing the point.

The Asian youths rioting in Manningham were neither fighting for culture nor creed. Neither were they expressing disquiet due to social deprivation. Rather, they should be recognised for the hooligans that they are.

Your reporter talks about 'every other person being on a mobile phone'. The fact is that both sides were looking to cause trouble on Saturday, and this is what happened.

Questions should be asked now as to how well-planned the rioters were, and whether we are dealing with a new type of hooliganism, similar to football.

Tahir Mahmood, Granville Road, Bradford

Sir - On Saturday evening I was taking a colleague home from work. We thought it would be all right to go the town centre way because we had heard on the news that the trouble was in Manningham.

As we got to the lights at the end of Thornton Road, we were shocked by what we saw. First we noticed all the police vans, then policemen and women sitting everywhere, their faces all dirty. They looked weary and stressed. I felt so sorry for them.

We read in the paper that people were saying the police were too rough or the police started it. I would like to read about the lives they have saved by putting their lives on the line for the yobs on both sides.

It would be nice if we could be kept informed on the progress of the injured police officers instead of the yobs who blame the police for everything.

C Romani, Ashfield Rd, Thornton, Bradford BD13.

Sir - I have just read on the internet accounts of the weekend riots in the Bradford area. It saddens me to see this happening to the town I was born and raised in.

I have never regretted leaving Bradford. It surely must be the worst town in Britain and I don't even want to visit there anymore.

Doreen Ward, Laurier Blvd., Brockville, Ontario, Canada K6V6Z2

SIR - I was born and brought up in Bradford during the second world war when bombs fell over the city.

We were a close-knit community and helped one another, so how shocked I was to see on TV all the violence in Bradford.

I have lived in Suffolk for many years, but never forget my home town.

Hilda Frost, Woodbridge, Suffolk.

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