A woman, aged 22, was taken to hospital with a serious facial wound after a fracas involving up to 40 people on a Bradford street.

Two cars parked in the street, an Audi A4 and a Volkswagen Golf, were badly damaged in the disturbance in Roy Road, Buttershaw.

Initially it had been rumoured there had been a road rage incident, but police confirmed there had not been a road accident.

It is understood the incident started inside a house in Roy Road and then spilled out on to the street, where other people, who had driven to the scene, joined in.

It is thought it was sparked by a dispute between two families.

A neighbour said: “My husband went out to the bins and heard some shouting. He turned round to look and saw two men arguing. One man was shouting ‘don’t touch her’. There were some women shouting too, then a man in a car seemed to drive at the other man who had to jump over the bonnet.

“Within minutes more cars pulled up and there were about 30 to 40 people scuffling and fighting.

“A woman kept shouting ‘we’ll burn your house down’ over and over again.

“There was all this banging and a man shouted ‘he’s hit her, he’s hit her with a hammer’. Then he was saying it was a crowbar.

“We could see a young girl lying on the ground. The ambulance was there for a long time and when it went it didn’t have its lights on. We thought she was dead.”

Young mum Joanne Clough, who lives on Roy Road, said her boyfriend called the police.

“I was scared, I could hear a man shouting ‘you’ve killed her, she’s dead, she’s dead’.”

Joshua York, who also lives in Roy Road, said: “I heard a load of arguing in the street, it sounded as though someone was getting bullied at first.

“I walked up to see what was happening and there were people shouting and there were two cars, one with its door hanging off, looking as though they’d both been in an accident.

“Then a black car and a flash-looking white Mercedes pulled up and a man jumped out of the Merc with a hammer in his hand. He was shouting ‘he’s hit her, he’s hit her’ and he ran to the corner house and started braying on the doors and windows shouting “where is he?”.

“I started to move back down the street when I saw the hammer because I had to call the police but then I heard someone shouting ‘she’s dead, she’s dead’. A woman was lying on the floor, there was a lot of blood. I couldn’t see too much because she was surrounded by other women. I told the police to send an ambulance as well because someone was seriously hurt.”

Police arrested a 21-year-old man in connection with the incident which happened shortly before 10pm on Wednesday. He had suffered a shoulder injury and was taken to Airedale General Hospital for treatment.

Inquiries are ongoing. Any witnesses, or anyone with information, are asked to call 0845 6060606, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.