Businesses across the district picked up awards from Small Business Minister Nigel Griffiths at a ceremony in Bradford last night.

Firms in Bradford, Otley and Keighley were among those to scoop Smart Awards.

The winners included Craftsman Tools Ltd, of Otley, which designs tool holders for computer-controlled lathes, and video surveillance firm DB Technology Ltd, which is based on Angel Way.

Other winners included: Parkhouse Road Industrial Estate-based textile comb company Fallers International Ltd; Water Lane-based Garnett Controls Ltd; Kris Hartley who has designed an innovative water butt tap; and Manningham Lane-based Renaissance Workshop Company Ltd, which manufactures a home assembly concertina kit.

The firms took a share of the £932,000 Smart funding given out to innovative firms in West Yorkshire last night.

Mr Griffiths said: "I am delighted to see the potential that so many of these ideas possess. Their range and originality is a testament to a region so clearly full of talented innovators - a key ingredient for future economic success.

"In a global marketplace the development of novel ideas and processes is vital for getting new business ideas off the ground, and giving existing small businesses a competitive edge.

"For many aspiring entrepreneurs the award of Smart funding is often the first step towards this goal."

Thackley firm VIAO Software Ltd, Rigby Speciality Wires Ltd in Keighley, and The Natural Engineering Company Ltd in Lidget Green also picked up awards.

The Smart scheme, which is backed by the DTI, aims to provide grants to help small-and-medium-sized businesses research and develop technologically innovative products and processes.

Before the ceremony Nigel Griffiths visited Asian Trades Link to find out what the organisation has in store for the coming year and how it has helped more than 1,000 firms.

ATL was formally launched in 1998 by a small group of Bradford businessmen. The organisation aims to support ethnic minority businesses in West Yorkshire.