Rival gangs fought a pitched battle when an armed mob descended on a Keighley street two years ago, a jury has heard.

Guns were fired and cars rammed during the clashes which left a trail of damage in the Parson Street area of the town.

Yesterday Mohammed Riasat, 42, went on trial at Bradford Crown Court accused of possessing a real or imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence and a further allegation of violent disorder.

Riasat, of Saltburn Place, Heaton, Bradford, has denied both charges, but prosecutor Brian Hurst said there was direct and circumstantial evidence linking him to the events that night in August, 2001.

Mr Hurst said the prosecution case was that Riasat was one of a number of people who arrived "mob-handed'' in Keighley.

"A very large number of people turned up in cars, carrying firearms and other weapons, and proceeded to unleash all sorts of what might be described as local hell in the area,'' Mr Hurst told the jury.

He said cars were driven up and down roads, guns were fired and vehicles were rammed. He described the clashes as "an almighty battle'' between a gang from Bradford and another from Keighley.

The jury watched a short police video taken the next day which showed damaged cars and some of the weapons left at the scene, including golf clubs and an iron bar. Officers also recovered three home-made gun cartridges that the prosecution say had been fired from a weapon which was specially adapted to use them.

Mr Hurst alleged that one of the cars used that night was a maroon Lexus owned by Riasat, which was seen reversing at speed along Parson Street and colliding with another vehicle.

It is part of the prosecution case that, after firing some kind of weapon, Riasat was himself knocked over and badly hurt. He later turned up at the Bradford Royal Infirmary with a broken wrist and ankle, but when he was questioned by police he claimed he had been knocked down in Lumb Lane.

Mr Hurst said tests revealed particles of firearm residue on a grey jumper worn by Riasat which was taken away for forensic examination. Riasat told police he had sold his car to someone in February, 2001, and he claimed to have borrowed the jumper from somebody in a pub.

Zulfiqar Asif told the jury how he saw Riasat, who he knew as "Chalky'', standing on Parson Street with what looked like a gun in his hand and he added: "I seen a spark - a flash come out of it - and heard a bang. That's when I was 100 per cent sure it was a firearm.''

He described how he saw Riasat get knocked over by a blue Vauxhall Vectra. Riasat then got into the Lexus before it drove passed the Vectra. He saw another flash from the Lexus. When he next saw the Vectra it had crashed into some parked cars, he said.

The trial continues.