Schools should be awarded more funding from the Government for increasing contact between pupils from different ethnic backgrounds, a report into the Bradford riots has concluded.

The Government also needs to look at good practice in Northern Ireland and America to encourage social cohesion, says the Commission for Racial Equality.

The CRE document lists a host of recommendations including strong democratic leadership and the funding of disadvantaged groups by the Government.

It places strong emphasis on the local authority to concentrate on the achievements of all pupils.

The report says: "The Department for Education and Skills should explore whether the magnet-schools model in the USA could be used here to support multi- ethnic schools and to encourage others like them."

The 64-page document called A Place for Us All looks at the histories of Bradford, Oldham and Burnley and examines the current situation in terms of housing, education, employment and crime.

CRE chairman Gurbux Singh said: "Proactive measures to promote equal opportunities and good relations between people from different ethnic groups can no longer be delayed."

Today Mohammed Amran of Bradford, who was the youngest commissioner for the CRE and instrumental in compiling the report, said it is time to take action. "I sent officers to Northern Ireland and to America to look at how they have tackled issues of segregation," he said. "The main thing is that now the recommendations should be implemented. We have had a lot of reports out now and they must be put into practice. The time for reports and analysis is over."

The report highlights issues such as housing. It says the traditional view that Asians, particularly Muslims, tend to stick to one area is more to do with economics rather than desire to not mix with whites.

It also blames regeneration policy for pumping money into short-term schemes that promote segregation and says there should be Asian and white businesses side by side.

Sharmila Gandhi, chief executive of Bradford Vision, a partnership of several key public and private bodies, including Bradford Council, Bradford Chamber of Commerce and West Yorkshire Police, agrees recommendations need to be taken on board.

But she said that people should not be forced to 'integrate' and highlighted the positive side of so-called segregation. "Cities like Leicester and Manchester have become famous for the Golden Mile and Wilmslow Road," she said. "If Bradford has a road of Asian businesses then I don't think that is a bad thing.

"It can also encourage integration because people who come there will be from all backgrounds.

"There are places that have concentrations of one ethnic group. In New York you have Little Italy and other places with one type of ethnic group. That's nothing to be afraid of."