The owner of a Polish delicatessen has told how Bradford's multi-cultural community has kept her family in business for almost 50 years.

Renata Taylor, 42, has been running Renata's Delicatessen in James Street for 16 years. Her mother, Irena Wojciechowicz, who moved to Bradford in 1946 as a refugee after the war, opened Soho Delicatessen in James Gate in 1950 but retired and now works for Renata.

The family business relies heavily on European customers. It sells more than 50 different types of sausages and also bottles of cherry vodka for which Poland is renowned. The walls of the small shop are stacked with an array of spices, pastas, chocolates, breads and cakes from every European country one can think of.

And passing customers are drawn into the shop because of the aroma drifting out onto the street.

Renata, who was born in Bradford, said: "We specialise in food that supermarkets don't keep. People travel from Leeds, Harrogate and Halifax.

"They come to us for that Continental taste. Bradford has such a multi-cultural community which we rely on to keep us going."

The shop also attracts English customers, including younger people, who have been abroad to countries such as Greece or Turkey and want to try the food at home.

And the company are expecting a flurry of interest in the run-up to Christmas because they stock the traditional foods.

Irena, 62, said; "We enjoy working in Bradford. We have had a really nice time over the years and have made lots of friends.

"We have a lot of regular customers and I think of Bradford as my home. I would never think of moving," she added.

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