THE Bradford district is gearing up to defend its title as Curry Capital of Britain, hoping to clinch the title for a record sixth time running.

And curry fans are being asked to nominate the local restaurants with the best bhajis, tastiest tandoori dishes and most perfect poppadoms to represent the district in the fiery contest.

Visit Bradford, the tourist organisation for Bradford Council, will be organising the district's entry and voting is now open for nominations for the restaurants that will form the bidding team for 2016.

The team is now asking people to vote for their favourite Asian restaurants from across the Bradford district. The four restaurants with the most nominations will go forward to represent the district in the competition.

Patricia Tillotson, tourism manager for Bradford Council, said: "We have so many places to get a great curry in our district and we all have our favourite restaurants, so we want people to support theirs by voting in this competition."

The Curry Capital of Britain is an annual competition which sees cities from all over the UK compete to be crowned the nation’s Curry Capital.

This year, the rules have changed and the competition will decide the separate Curry Capitals of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, with a separate contest for London boroughs.

The winners of the five contests will then go head-to-head to compete for the Curry Capital of Britain title.

It’s expected that more than 20 cities and regions will take part in the contest.

Bradford has managed to see off the competition for a record five years on the trot, with last year's bid captivating judges at a curry-themed teddy bear's picnic.

Peter Grove, founder and organiser of the Curry Capital of Britain competition, said: "Bradford has found a magic formula and understands the underlying message of the event, which is to promote cohesion where there was division.

"They have also used curry as a bonding agent to bring different aspects of Bradford society together. We will be using Visit Bradford’s approach to the competition as a blueprint for other cities."

As part of the competition, all entering cities must host a range of fundraising events, with proceeds going to The Curry Tree.

The Curry Tree is a charitable fund, raising and allocating money to deserving causes concerned with poverty, disaster and malnutrition.

People can nominate their favourite curry house in the Bradford district by visiting www.visitbradford.com/currycapital, or emailing vote@fedrest.com using the subject 'Bradford'.

Alternatively, nominations can be placed in person at the Visitor Information Centres in Bradford, Haworth, Ilkley and Saltaire.

Voting closes for nominations on Monday, June 6.