Bradford riot police had plastic bullets

West Yorkshire Police officers had plastic bullets at their disposal at the height of the Bradford riots, the force's Police Authority said yesterday.

It would have been the first use on mainland Britain of loaded baton round-firing guns, which are employed for riot control in Northern Ireland. But Chief Constable Graham Moore decided they should not counter the bricks, beer barrels and metal bars thrown at his officers in Manningham's White Abbey Road for four hours on Saturday night.

The force's Police Authority chairman, Neil Taggart, revealed that Mr Moore had been in touch to inform him that a decision had been taken not to use baton round-firing guns, despite the levels of violence aimed at his officers.

He said: "If you up the level of violence from the police side, possibly by using water cannon or plastic baton rounds, you run the serious risk that people on the other side will increase their level of violence." West Yorkshire Police would not confirm or deny reports that two armoured vehicles were carrying specially trained officers armed with loaded baton-round-firing guns.

Nine people were arrested during sporadic violence on Tuesday night in the mainly "white" areas of Bierley and Fagley, where property was attacked by youths.

As Bradford prepares for the publication of a report on the city's race relations by the former Commission for Racial Equality chairman Lord Ouseley today, Asian business leaders have taken out full-page newspaper advertisements, apologising for the weekend's violence.