A 22-year-old man remained in a serious condition in hospital last night after he suffered knife wounds in an attack in Bradford city cente.

Police were called to reports of a disturbance in Ivegate shortly before 4am on Saturday where they found the injured man.

He was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary where he was described as being in a serious but stable condition.

Two men, aged 18 and 22, and a 17-year-old girl have been arrested on suspicion of assault and were being questioned by detectives at the weekend.

Police are trawling through CCTV images as part of the investigation.

Detective Inspector Mark Long, of Bradford South CID, said: “We are working to ascertain the circumstances which have led to this incident. Neighbourhood Policing Team Officers are providing reassurance patrols in the city centre and will be speaking to residents and businesses in the area.”

Part of Ivegate was closed on Saturday while officers carried out further investigations. A police cordon blocked access to the street from its junction with Tyrrel Street to the doorway of Sanif Restaurant and Takeaway.

Access was maintained to the Lloyds TSB cash machine but Boney Fide clothes shop and Zaytoon Restaurant and Takeaway, which were inside the taped off area, remained closed. Shoppers gathered at the edge of the cordon, which was guarded by two police community support officers.

Some Ivegate retailers expressed their frustration at the street being partially closed to customers on a busy Saturday. Barzan Mohammed, owner of Ivegate Newsagent and Mini Market, said the police investigation meant he had to open his shop three hours later than usual at 11am.

“It is not good,” he said. “My business has been very quiet all day. I have lost a lot of money today because people see the police tape and don’t want to walk all the way round to the top of Ivegate to get to me.”

Paul Williams, manager of Wallace Arnold Travel said: “Saturday is normally one of our busiest days. We get a lot of passing trade from the window adverts but obviously people aren’t walking past today.” He added: “Nobody has been to tell us what is happening. We would have preferred it if somebody had spoken with us.”

Takings were also hit at Age Concern. Shop manager Pearl Dawson said: “It has affected business quite badly. We are down by about a quarter.”

Witnesses to the attack or anyone with information should contact Bradford South CID on 0845 6060606 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.