WELLWISHERS raised nearly £1,000 for a cutting edge Bradford art gallery after intruders smashed the front window with an iron grate.

The raiders hurled the heavy grate through the window at the Fuse Art Space gallery in Rawson Place in the city centre.

They crawled inside and trashed the premises, making off with music and DJ equipment, as well as a flat screen TV which was part of an exhibition.

But supporters of the gallery, which is run by volunteers, and champions local creativity, rallied round after hearing about the burglary and damage.

The art group's co-director, James Birchall, revealed that the generosity of wellwishers had raised nearly £1,000 in only a day, which would pay for boarding up the damage, a new window, the insurance excess and a new burglar alarm.

Mr Birchall said: "We want to thank everyone who chipped in. We've never been so excited about a window before. It's going to be the best damn window you've ever seen."

He added: "The plain, ordinary folk of Bradford have been incredibly supportive in helping us reach our target in a day.

"They are just people who have been to our exhibitions or our film screenings and must have appreciated what we are trying to do. If there was a blessing in disguise it is that the generosity of people here has shown us that we are doing something right and contributing something valuable."

The gallery opened in January, with the volunteers being drawn to Bradford from London by the growing buzz surrounding the city's cultural life.

Aided by a £65,000 Arts Council grant for the first two years, the gallery aimed to showcase visual art, experimental music and sound art.

Mr Birchall said the raiders had stolen music and DJ equipment, recording mixers and a large flatscreen TV which was part of an exhibition of Syrian protest artists.

"We chose to use the TV so we could regularly update the exhibition with latest images from the crisis. The exhibition only runs until the end of November, so the missing TV made a big dent in it," said Mr Birchall.

He said volunteers at Fuse worked very hard to provide a valuable resource for the Bradford community, with concerts, films and exhibitions free to all, and it was incredibly upsetting for the work to be smashed up.