Prominent Asian business leaders today took the unprecedented step of making an unreserved apology for the Bradford riots.

The businessmen joined forces to place a full-page advertisement in today's Telegraph & Argus to publicly apologise for the behaviour of some of the younger members of the Asian community who were involved in the brutal scenes that scarred the city over the weekend.

And they are also hoping to visit many non-Asian businesses affected by the riots to apologise personally.

The Telegraph & Argus has also received a letter from residents of Manningham, Heaton, Oak Lane, White Abbey Road and Manchester Road, criticising the behaviour of a minority of Asian thugs and praising police efforts to control them.

Under the umbrella of the Asian Trades Link, the businesses - covering everything from the Aagrah restaurant to Crown Textiles - expressed their horror and condemnation of the devastating riots.

The advert states: "On behalf of the silent majority of law-abiding Asian citizens of Bradford we would like to express our sincere sympathies to all those affected by the mindless destruction and violence of last weekend's events."

Today, chairman of the Asian Trades Link, Amjad Pervez, said the organisation had initially not known what to do.

"When somebody is upset you can send flowers, but we didn't know what to do in this situation."

People wanted to write personal letters but that became too lengthy, like a report, he said.

"We thought the advert would be best because it would be simple, basic and straight to the point," said Mr Pervez. "We are appalled by the events at the weekend and basically the advert is the first step in dealing with it."

The Asian business leaders also want to visit local non-Asian businesses and apologise for the events personally.

And they are also hoping to visit secondary schools in the area and speak to Asian youngsters about what is bothering them.

ATL represents more than 400 businesses but Mr Pervez said that a lack of time meant only about 20 had been approached.

"If we had had more time I am certain that all the businesses would be behind us," said Mr Pervez. "It's only a time shortage that stopped us from contacting every business.

"We feel that the whole Asian community will suffer and pay through the nose for what has happened.

"We don't want to drive English businesses away, we want them to see that we are united in our condemnation for what has happened. It is totally and utterly deplorable."

Mohammed Aslam, director of the Aagrah restaurant chain, said it was imperative that Asian businesses showed their solidarity.

"As far as we are concerned, it is not the yobs who have lost anything, they had nothing to lose. It is decent, hard-working professionals and businesses who have suffered," he said.

"We have tried hard to create a multi-cultural society and in one weekend all that good work has been erased."

Mr Aslam, who is in the process of moving the headquarters of his multi-million pound business to Shipley from Pudsey, said seeing the BMW garage in Oak Lane after it had been wrecked was heartbreaking: "Believe me, when I saw the sight of the burned out cars I had tears in my eyes.

"We have done a lot of charity work in Bradford and done our utmost to represent Bradford in a positive light throughout the world. What these youths have done is set us back at least ten years."

Shakeel Amini, manager at Crown Textiles in White Abbey Road, also condemned the troublemakers.

"We fully support the ATL and the decision to run a full page advert. We have to show that we condemn the yobs and this sort of lawlessness."

Atique Saddique, 35, owner of Atique Textiles, said the business had no hesitation when they were contacted.

"We have been in White Abbey Road for 20 years and we got a call about this idea and straight away were behind it. We have to show the community that we are really sorry for what has happened. It is totally appalling."

The owner of the family-run business Rolex Trading Company, Asmi Darr, said: "We felt that it was terrible that we were all being tarred with the same brush and we wanted as the Asian community to say how disgusted we feel. Normally it is councillors or religious leaders who come out and proclaim to speak for the community but we wanted to have our say."

Nazir Hussain has run NH Hardware in Leeds Road for 34 years.

He said: "We are feeling horrible about what has happened. The Asian community feels very upset and that's why this advert is so important.

"We feel Bradford is our home and we can't bear what has happened to it."

Mr Hussain said that the business community was already beleaguered without the devastating effects of the riots.

"We were pleading with the council to help us get some decent businesses in the city centre and then this happens.

"But there was a lot of positive work going on as well. For ten years we have been participating in the Curry Project along with Hindus, Sikhs and Christians, helping disadvantaged people in Bradford, all that good work is being undone."

Tariq Qureshi, from the Book Centre, White Abbey Road, said they felt sadness.

"In a nutshell, we are very upset about what has happened and as a community we feel we have to face some very stark realities.

"We are starting to self-destruct and it is going to get worse.

"We were in shock when we discovered what happened to the BMW garage. Yes, there was a sense of relief that we were all right but this has scarred everybody. We must make sure that we pull together and support each other otherwise there will be an even higher price to pay.

"There are a lot of social problems in the Asian community and we have to take action."