A new generation of Asian women is proud to be grasping the jobs never thought possible by their parents in Bradford.

The T&A reported yesterday how Naz Shah has become the first Asian woman bus driver outside London.

The 25-year-old, of Leeds Road, Bradford, said her family were proud of her and delighted she had landed the job with First Bradford.

But she is one of a new breed of Asian women taking jobs in a range of situations and dispelling the old stereotypes.

Aneela Ahmed, 33, has one of the friendly voices that greet distressed 999 callers at the West Yorkshire Ambulance Service headquarters in Birkenshaw.

A qualified medic, she can give advice which sometimes saves lives while she dispatches an ambulance.

Better still, she can also do it in Urdu and Punjabi as well as faultless English.

"People don't know who's on the other end of the phone and when I ask which language they speak and then start asking the questions in Punjabi, the line will often go quiet. I think they are a bit shocked and it's as if they are saying 'How does she do that?'"

Bradford born and bred, Mrs Ahmed is one of five sisters who have all gone through college, mainly due to her late father's determination for them to get a good education.

Rehana Shafquat is the headteacher of Feversham College, the independent Muslim girls' school off Leeds Road.

Now aged just 29, the former Bradford University student joined the school in 1995 as a science teacher.

Speaking of Naz, she said: "I think it's really good news. There are no barriers to what Asian women can do."

Another success story is Adeeba Malik, 31, general manager of Quest for Education and Development in West Bowling.

She is also on the board of the new Regional Development Agency for Yorkshire, is a school governor, a Common Purpose graduate and a trustee of a charitable trust. She says she owes her success to her parents.

Former Bradford Health Authority chairman Zahida Manzoor, now chairman of the Northern and Yorkshire Region of the NHS Executive, used to work for the Commission for Racial Equality.

She said Asian women can find themselves kicking against a double discrimination on sex and race. "Role models are very important to say it can be done," she has said.

Bradford Racial Equality Council director Ishtiaq Ahmed said: "We need to encourage women who are taking their rightful place in work, social life and political life."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.