Traffic lights at the scene of a road smash which claimed the life of a Bradford father were out of action when the accident happened.

Council workers confirmed today the signals in Manchester Road had been off for at least three hours and were awaiting an engineer to fix them.

The fatal crash happened at 2.15am on Christmas Day when a Nissan Sunny car was in collision with a Vauxhall Cavalier minicab.

A spokesman for Bradford Council's Urban Traffic Control (UTC) unit said the lights were out of order from Christmas Eve until noon on Christmas Day.

Father-of-two Zafar Iqbal suffered fatal chest and head injuries when he was thrown from the passenger seat of the Nissan.

The car was travelling across the junction from St Stephen's Road to Ransdale Road, West Bowling, when it was in collision with the Cavalier heading down Manchester Road towards the city centre.

Mr Iqbal, aged 44, of Boynton Street, West Bowling, was married with a son and daughter - eight-year-old twins Haroon and Aroosha.

His distraught wife, Noreen Akhtar, said: "He was a wonderful father and husband. Zafar was a very kind man who did everything he could for his family. I am still in shock.

"The police knocked on the door at 3am and told me there had been an accident. When I got to the hospital he had already died."

The 34-year-old driver of the Nissan suffered minor injuries and was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary. The driver of the Cavalier and two passengers were both unharmed.

An inquest into Mr Iqbal's death was opened and adjourned at Bradford Coroner's office yesterday. Mrs Akhtar and her family were flying out to Pakistan today for the funeral.

Odsal Police are appealing for witnesses to the incident. A police spokesman confirmed the traffic lights were out of action when it happened.

Witnesses are asked to contact the Odsal Police help desk on Bradford 376659 or 0845 6060606.