Top police officers will face criticism from members of the force's race watchdog at a meeting tonight in Bradford.

The Bradford Ethnic Minority Police Liaison committee is due to meet tonight at Toller Lane police station when Superintendent Mark Whyman will report back on the Lidget Green disorder.

Rashid Awan, chairman of the group, which was founded to build better relations between black and Asian communities and the police, said he felt the police responded too slowly to the trouble.

"There is great concern from people that police were slow to attend," said Mr Awan, a former police officer. "I am also concerned and have made it clear that we would like to know more about the facts of this.

"If it's true that the police took too much time, then that's unacceptable in any circumstances. This incident could have resulted in someone suffering fatal injuries, or in even more damage being done to property."

He said he understood that police took two hours to muster enough officers to gain control of the situation in Lidget Green and questions needed to be asked.

"There may be a reason behind this due to the fact that it occurred on a Bank Holiday and we expect Supt Whyman to provide full details of this," he said.

"I think one has to learn from these incidents. There may have been reasons why the police were slow to respond, but obviously the public needs protection and would expect police to react."

By the end of the night there were at least 130 officers on the streets, many having travelled from Halifax and Kirklees.