A takeaway and restaurant was showered with bullets during a drive-by shooting today - the third gun attack in Bradford in ten days.

Shocked customers dived for cover as a car crawled up outside the Shimla Kebab House and blasted two bullet holes through the window.

Further shots fired from the saloon car blasted out the windows of a Toyota Carina parked outside the shop and a Rover 620 minicab parked a few yards down the street.

No-one was injured during the attack in Great Horton Road, Great Horton.

Detectives say there is no evidence at this stage to link the attack with previous shootings in the city.

Police were today trying to trace a group of men who opened fire on the kebab shop from what is described as a dark saloon car before driving off.

Witnesses have told police the gunfire came from a dark coloured saloon-style car containing several men.

The restaurant was still open for business when the vehicle pulled up at about 2.15am today. Several shots were fired before the car drove off at speed.

At 3.15am police recovered a black Vauxhall SRI car abandoned at nearby Spencer Road, which is believed to be connected to the shooting.

One of the cars parked outside the restaurant and damaged in the attack was an M-registered Rover belonging to a driver from Great Horton Private Hire firm.

One of the firm's radio operators, Javed Iqbal, said: "Some of the cabbies had ordered food from the restaurant and he had gone to pick it up.

"He was in the restaurant when the shooting started. It frightened him so much he didn't come back to work."

The man heading the investigation, Detective Chief Superintendent Max Mclean, appealed for customers who were in the restaurant at the time, or anyone with information about the shooting, to contact police.

He said: "It was a very frightening experience for everyone in the restaurant. We cannot confirm, at this stage, any links to any other incident in Bradford."

Police cordoned off Great Horton Road between the junction with Shearbridge Road and Summerville Road while officers carried out a thorough search of the area this morning.

Motorists on their way to work were diverted away from Great Horton Road which is one of the city's busiest routes.

The shooting comes less than a fortnight after the murder of Dexter Coleman during violent clashes in Manningham.

The 27-year-old was shot in the back at close range as he tried to seek refuge in the Young Lions caf, Lumb Lane.

Four days later a 20-year-old Asian man was taken to hospital after being shot in the leg as he walked in the Lidget Green area of the city.

Anyone with any information on the current shootings is asked to contact Toller lane CID on (01274) 376285.