A night of arson across Bradford hit a top curry restaurant, trapping eight workers.

And another attack wiped out a hair and beauty business that took ten years to build up – in just ten minutes.

Detectives from Bradford South CID are trawling through CCTV footage from the Zouk tea bar and grill in Leeds Road after a figure carrying petrol cans was caught on camera sending a massive fireball shooting up the restaurant’s door.

The blaze, which sent thick smoke into the restaurant, was spotted by two police officers driving past on patrol in the early hours of Good Friday. At first they tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher from their patrol car but were beaten by the flames and had to call for back-up.

As firefighters put out the blaze, officers banging on a back door managed to rouse the occupants upstairs who were all believed to be restaurant workers.

The shocked staff were then led to safety unharmed and away from the smoke-logged building.

Samtosh Kurian was one of them. He said: “I want to thank the police for helping get us out. We were very lucky they were there. All we could see when we came down was a massive fireball. We were all shocked and confused, shouting at each other.”

Zouk’s general manager Robert Mahmood said he had to break the news to the owner Peter Bashir.

“He was dumbfounded, at first he could not speak then he was asking one million questions at the same time. We are a respectable business doing phenomenally well. We have no enemies. The only motive anyone could have would be jealousy.”

Mr Bashir and his two sons, who spent £1m on a new restaurant in Manchester, are cutting short a business trip to Lahore to fly home.

Det Insp Steve Snow of Bradford South CID, leading the investigation, said: “Officers patrolling Leeds Road spotted the fire. If the flames had been left longer it would have caused significant problems for those upstairs.”

He added: “We are treating this as a targeted attack and are working with fire investigators. Our officers are also trying to establish the motive.”

He said restaurant staff had already been interviewed and there had been no indication there had been any “disgruntled customers” who might have returned. “It’s not just been someone messing around, whoever did this meant it,” he said.

Zouk opened four years ago and was one of 85 top Yorkshire eateries that got a mention in the this year’s Good Food Guide. A team of electricians and decorators were desperately working against the clock to not lose Easter customers.

Less than three miles away in Little Horton Lane, Qaisar Ayub, owner of Afro Village, was counting the cost of a suspicious blaze that happened just before 9pm on Thursday gutting his store and destroying about £150,000 of goods including 400 acrylic hair extensions.

“Ten years it’s taken me to build up this business and in ten minutes it’s all gone,” he said. The store attracts customers from across Yorkshire but now he fears they will go elsewhere. “People won’t wait. It might be weeks before I can open again, it depends on the insurance.”

Detectives want to speak to four Asian women, all aged between their teens and early 20s, who were seen leaving the shop minutes before staff in the downstairs food and spice shop saw smoke.

Firefighters, who had the added hazard of potentially exploding aerosol cans, said it appeared to have started in a far corner of the shop where a number of cardboard boxes had been lit.

DI Snow said: “This is someone’s livelihood that has been wiped out utterly and completely.”

The four women who detectives want to contact were all about 5ft to 5ft 3ins tall with shoulder length dark hair. None of them were in traditional Asian dress, one of them was wearing black trousers and a cream jumper.

Anyone with information on either of the attacks should call Bradford South CID on 01274 376575.