David McCann stared numbly at the buckled doors of his looted DIY store. "We've been told they ram-raided it with a silver BMW," said the trader, pointing out deep cracks in the brickwork around the frame.

The high-performance vehicle was one of many stolen from the prestigious BMW dealership less than 100 yards away.

As dawn broke yesterday, bulldozers prepared to remove burned shells of more than a dozen cars from the front of the gutted Lister Park showroom.

One Asian woman surveying the scene opposite her house said: "We were proud to have this business in Oak Lane - it brought prestige to the area.

"They have done millions of pounds worth of damage here - the owners will move out and it will just make things worse for us."

The 26-year-old carries the same bewildered look as most of her neighbours.

"It was so frightening. It was just complete lawlessness here and there was nothing we could do."

According to local residents, around 400 mainly Asian youths arrived shortly after 1am and literally ran riot for three hours.

"There were no police or fire brigade here," said the woman.

"They were racing around in the road while the others cheered them. Then they crashed the cars into each other and set them alight."

A middle aged Asian man added: "The National Front have got what they wanted. They have sparked off the trouble and then left the youths to destroy their own community."

Kierston Hunt, who lives yards from the garage, said: "It was vile. It was an orgy of violence.

"I was here during the riots in 1995 and this was much worse. It was just a macho show. People were clapping while the others showed off in the stolen cars."

She added: "It was really scary. I came out and was told to go in. One woman who was about 60 suffered racial abuse.

"This is not going to help race relations - a lot of white people will move out of the area.

"I was thinking of moving anyway but how much will I get for my house now?"

She said: "A lot of people are blaming the police but I think that is just because they are a soft target.

"There was no excuse for what happened - it was just mayhem."

Less than half a mile away, fire fighters were still damping down the smoking remains of Arthur's Bar which was torched by the rampaging mob.

The Lower Globe and Upper Globe suffered the same fate, falling within the two miles of wreckage running from the city centre to Toller Lane.

The city itself still bares the scars of the violence, with pubs and shop windows boarded up.

At the Manningham East Ward Labour Club, around 30 members had been trapped inside the building after rioters pushed burning cars up against the fire doors. They were rescued by police and fire officers but the building was badly damaged.

"The Manningham club no longer exists," said Station Officer David Swales, of Bradford fire station. "It's a total collapse - a total disaster. It will be a bulldozer job."

Local resident Joyce Broomfield said: "I used to go in there, it was a lovely club.

"The whole area looks like a war zone. Everyone waking up today is just stunned by what has happened - white, black and Asian.

"We have always got on all right together. This is going to damage relations between us in the area."

David McCann said he was still totting up the repair bill at his DIY store.

"I keep going in and finding new things missing." Hammers, saws and even spades were grabbed as makeshift weapons to use against the police.

"At the moment everyone is worried what is going to happen next.

"We were targeted in 1995 and put up steel doors, shutters and everything.

"We thought we might have got away with it this time, but that wasn't the case."

Mr McCann has run the Oak Lane store with his wife Julie for more than 20 years. "Things are usually okay here but this will just raise tensions within the community."

He said he would carry on running his store - but was unsure whether it would be in the same spot.

"It's too early to say yet, we just don't know.

"But we've got to earn a living - you just have to go on, don't you?"