Holiday peace is shattered by the mob

All along Legrams Lane, the pavement was littered with broken glass, shop windows were smashed, and a wrecked car lay across part of the pavement.

The once-pretty, ivy-covered Coach House pub stood smoke-blackened and boarded up, around ten burnt out cars were scattered across its car park.

The smell of burnt rubber still lingered in the air as a workman, pictured, started repairing broken windows.

Further up the road, windows were boarded up at the Second West pub in Cemetery Road and downhill the windows of the Willowfield pub were all smashed.

There are different versions among residents of what happened, and why, but feelings of dismay and unease were everywhere yesterday.

Groups of men gathered on street corners, surveying the damage, while mothers and children peered out of their windows, taking in the scenes of destruction littered across their neighbourhood.

Rafia Ahmed, who lives opposite the Coach House pub, was at home with her family enjoying a quiet Sunday evening when she heard violence erupt outside.

"One of my sons was upstairs playing on his computer. He shouted to me that he could see people fighting outside," she said.

"It was terrifying. I could see about 50 or 60 youths, white and Asian, running around fighting with sticks and smashing windows.

"I saw the pizza place get smashed, there was glass everywhere.

"I have been here for 12 years and it used to be a nice area but lately it has got worse. There is a feeling of racial tension on all sides.

"I don't feel safe in my home anymore. I'm scared something like this could happen again. My eight-year-old son said last night he wants to move."

Ejaz Ahmed, who runs Ahmed Newsagents next to the Bilal Pizza Bar, was in his shop when he saw gangs of white youths smashing windows with bricks next door at around 7.30pm.

He said: "I was in the shop and heard it all going on. When I looked outside I couldn't believe it. It was very frightening.

"I shut the shop and got a phone call from someone warning me that gangs were running along the street, smashing shop windows and setting places on fire, so I quickly put the shutters down."

Mr Ahmed said he saw the youths jump on to a bus after smashing the pizza bar windows.

"When the police came they came off the bus by kicking open the emergency doors and seemed to run off.

"This was around 8pm. If the police had come earlier, when the trouble started, they wouldn't have had chance to get on the bus.

"I have lived here 35 years and never seen anything like it. You expect trouble in other areas, because there is racial tension, but it has always been all right in this neighbourhood. I'm hoping this was a one-off."

Police were taken by surprise by the violence, as nothing had indicated escalating tension in the area.

And it was the Bank Holiday Sunday, when many officers had been given the day off.

The reinforcements had to be scrambled from elsewhere across the county - Halifax and Kirklees - and took longer to arrive.

However, within hours, there were more than 130 officers in the half square mile around Lidget Green.

Brian Manning, who lives near Willowfield Street, said: "I heard it all going on. It was terrifying. It had been a nice peaceful day, then all this broke out.

"I thought it was all happening further up Legrams Lane, by the Coach House, then I heard windows smashing near where I live. It was like living in a riot zone."

One Asian youth, who did not wish to be named, echoed the views of many Asian men in the area who claimed police were not at the scene quickly enough.

He said: "It started at about 7pm. There were about 35 white youths throwing bricks and fire bombs at the Coach House.

"They tipped a car over in the road and started smashing up shop windows. Then hundreds of Asian youths turned up and there was complete chaos. My friend got hit on the head with a stick.

"There has been tension building up for ages. White youths have started coming down and causing a bit of trouble. Some kind of riot was going to happen sooner or later.

"I think they had already planned to come down last night.

"When the Asians saw what was happening they were only protecting their community."

Another Asian man, who did not wish to be named, said: "I saw both white and Asian gangs with baseball bats and knives in the Spencer Road area at about 9.50pm.

"It looked like it had been planned."

Conscious of criticism over previous street violence in the city - when culprits have escaped prosecution - senior officers said they had learned lessons.

There is now a much higher emphasis on gathering evidence during the incident, with video cameras on the police helicopter and other hand-held cameras operated by men on the ground.

Superintendent Mark Whyman, in charge of the operation, said the extra video crews were something the police did not have at their disposal during the 1995 Manningham disturbances.

"We have to go on the evidence," he said. "We can't arrest people willy nilly and make rash prosecutions. What we have learned in our policing of public order incidents, is to ensure we get the very best evidence. We deploy video units, we use cameras, we try to get the clearest picture of what's occurring on the ground, in what are very difficult and confusing circumstances."

Referring to the way the police service was caught by surprise by the disorder, he said: "We have no particular problems in Lidget Green and we had absolutely no indication anything like this was going to happen. It really was a surprise. And there didn't appear to be any element of planning by those involved."

Officers want help from the public and appealed today for anyone with information to contact their local police station.

Supt Whyman, of Bradford North police, said a lack of witness statements was one reason why those responsible for the Bonfire Night trouble in Marshfields in 1999 escaped punishment.

Senior officers drew up what they termed "a comprehensive plan of action" following the latest disturbances, aimed at placing extra police on the beat to reassure residents and head off repercussions.

And they took time to brief members of the community at a well-attended meeting at Bradford Central police station yesterday lunch time.

An incident room has been set up to investigate the Lidget Green rioting and officers have begun sifting through a huge amount of evidence - starting with the police log of the incident, which runs to 150 pages, and extensive video footage.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Sedgwick, of Bradford South police, is leading the investigation.

"The incident seems to have started in Legrams Lane between 7.30pm and 8pm on Sunday. I'd like to speak to anyone who was there at that time, anyone with any information to enlighten us.

"I'm interested in getting the full picture and I'd encourage anybody who had any damage done or who has been assaulted to get in touch with us. We don't want half a picture."

The number to call to report incidents is 0845 6060606.

Opinion