The family which owns Otley-based Garnett paper-making is named in a list of Britain's 200 richest Asians today.

Dinesh Chandaria, 48, comes from a family of Kenyan paper makers who, deciding to diversify into the UK, bought the Otley firm in 1990 for £15 million.

According to the list, compiled for Eastern Eye newspaper, the company is now valued at £10m. The family also has £15million of assets in their native Kenya.

Also named is Dilbag Singh who came to Britain with just £3 in his pocket - now his Bradford company is worth millions.

Mr Singh and wife Gurmail Kaur each own 50 per cent of Dilbag Cloth House Ltd, of Duncombe Road, Lidget Green.

According to Britain's Richest Asian 200, compiled by Sunday Times Rich List author Philip Beresford, the couple are worth £10 million.

They are the only Bradford entry in the list - at number 90.

Mr Singh came to Bradford from the Punjab in 1962 after working in his father's fabric shop. He worked in a textile mill, in a foundry and as a bus conductor before marrying.

Mrs Kaur, 55, started making clothes from home in her spare time, then her husband bought five rolls of fabric to sell to customers. He bought a small shop and when that became too full of stock, some houses for storage.

Now the couple's 130,000sq ft headquarters is believed to be England's biggest cloth house.

"We never had any holidays until a little while ago and I still work very hard every day," he said. "I don't feel a millionaire - I serve my customers and look after my staff and I just enjoy it."

His fabrics are now made in Asia to his designs and his customers buy from all over the world.

Also on the list are Batley entrepreneur Mohammed Zafar, 42, property developer and owner of Hick Lane Bedding, whose wealth is said to total £15m and Dewsbury-based petrol retailers Ahmed, Yakub and Yunus Patel, whose business is valued at £5m.

Mr Sarwar Ahmed, who published the list, said cities such as Manchester, Birmingham and Leicester had between five and 20 Asian millionaires.

Bradford was at the bottom of the league, with only one.

Bradford Council deputy leader Councillor Mohammed Ajeeb said most Asians who came to Bradford were from rural areas like Mirpur and had little entrepreneurial experience.

"Places such as Manchester, Glasgow and London attracted different kinds of Asian communities from urban areas who already had business experience," he said.

"Most people who came to Bradford have made outstanding achievements in improving their quality of life, despite the fact that they were unskilled and illiterate and had no experience in business or commerce."

Fazal Hussain, of the Asian Business Forum and Trade Association of Asian Restaurant Owners, said: "What is more important is that businesses are leaving Bradford because the rates and the rent are too high.

"Never mind millionaires, we are not gong to have any businesses left in Bradford if we don't address this problem."

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