Volunteers are needed to help serve up a tasty mix of news and views to black television viewers.

Bradford's first TV programme to be geared to its African and African-Caribbean communities has the mouthwatering name of Rice and Peas.

The daily show, named after a popular Caribbean dish, is the brainchild of Jerome James and Papa T.

They have teamed up with the Asian UK television station based at the Carlisle Business Centre in Bradford to produce up to an hour's worth of items each week.

Rice and Peas is broadcast seven nights a week from 6pm to 7pm on Yorkshire Cable Channel 54.

It has a team of reporters but the show is on the look-out for more people to come forward to help out as volunteers or to get in touch about events and stories which could be featured

"As far as we know this is the first show that has been launched in Bradford which is specifically for black people," said Jerome. "But it is multi-cultural as well and we have white and Asian people working with us."

Jerome, 36, who works as an image consultant based at the Carlisle Business Centre and is also public relations officer for the new Action for Black Community Development group, said no experience in working in television was needed. "I had never done anything like this before," he said.

The current week's programme, which will run until Wednesday, features the pop group Bad Manners, a report on the peace march which followed the death of Dexter Coleman and a preview of a conference being organised by ABCD at the Hilton Hotel in Bradford on Saturday.

Anyone interested in taking part in the show should write to Jerome James, Rice and Peas, Carlisle Business Centre, 60 Carlisle Road, Bradford, BD8 8BD.