A cab driver who was attacked and robbed by two passengers has complained that the police took an hour to arrive at the scene.

Khalid Nasir spoke out after being subjected to a sustained attack, in which two men racially abused him, robbed him of his phone and about £40, and broke the wing mirror of his black Lexus cab.

When he tried to pursue them to get his phone back, they attacked him, kicking him in his back and punching the back of his head.

Mr Nasir, a father-of-two, of Heaton, said he was dropping off the two passengers at Blackshaw Drive, Buttershaw, at about 7.15am on Sunday when they refused to pay the fare, then started their attack.

He said: "They punched me in the back of the head, kicked me in the back, took my mobile, took my money off me, kicked the car door, kicked the side mirror and ripped the carpet.

"They were looking for the car keys, basically, but they were in my pocket. I didn't tell them where they were."

Mr Nasir said as the robbery began, he had managed to radio his cab firm, Power Carz, for help.

They in turn called the police, but officers did not arrive for another hour, Mr Nasir said.

He said: "My taxi rank was contacting the police every five to 10 minutes. They were calling me on the radio, asking me if I was okay.

"The drivers from my office turned up before the police."

Now a Bradford councillor has said he will be writing to Divisional Commander Simon Atkin to raise his concerns.

Councillor Ishtiaq Ahmed (Ind, Manningham), said: "This is totally unprecedented and unacceptable from any perspective. It is Mr Nasir's sheer luck that he did not receive any life-threatening injuries as he was totally outnumbered and physically overpowered."

Cllr Ahmed said the number of attacks on cab drivers was on the rise, and called for the police to do more to protect them.

Superintendent Scott Bisset, of Bradford District Police, said the incident had first been reported to them as a theft "where the suspects had left the area".

He said: "Due to other ongoing emergencies in the district, officers were unable to attend immediately.

"Each call for service is graded according to its nature and officers attended as soon as they were available.

"The incident is now under investigation and we are in contact with the victim, who has been fully updated on its progress.

"Any assault is unacceptable, but attacks on taxi drivers are taken particularly seriously and we regularly work closely with local taxi firms and partner organisations to prevent such incidents."