ASIAN community leaders were today seeking clarification over a leaked report into the summer riots which claimed that the distribution of grants to poor areas fuelled resentment.

They were also upset by Home Secretary David Blunkett and his suggestion that immigrants should to speak English and the ethnic community should do more to integrate itself with the rest of the population.

The report, commissioned by Home Secretary, said that resentment is said to be a major factor in the reasons for the trouble in Daneshouse, Stoneyholme and Burnley Wood in June. It criticises schemes where different areas of towns are pitted against each other when it comes to bidding for money and also condemns local leaders who have failed to build bridges between local communities.

Its findings are expected to mirror those of the task force report into the Burnley disturbances and a similar inquiry into riots in Oldham when they are published this week.

Mr Blunkett called on ethnic minority communities not to cut themselves off from the mainstream of British culture and said enforced marriages were unacceptable in this country.

Immigrants who settled here had a duty to ensure that their children and grandchildren grew up with a British identity and a sense of belonging, he said. He held open the prospect of compulsory English lessons for new migrants.

Shahid Malik, a member of Labour's National Executive Committee and the Commission for Racial Equality and the son of Burnley's deputy mayor Rafiq Malik, said he would be seeking a meeting with Mr Blunkett to clarify his "disturbing" remarks. He said: "Mr Blunkett is showing a distinct lack of understanding.

"I have no doubt that there's many fascists and racists and members of the BNP who will perversely draw comfort from his comments and view them as some sort of green light.

"I know that's not what Mr Blunkett intended and I hope he will clarify his views and put them in a more appropriate context."

The Burnley Task Force report, headed by Labour peer, Lord Tony Clarke is due to be launched at Turf Moor this week. The report will outline what it believes to be the causes of the disturbances in June and what, if anything, can be done to avoid repetition.

Liberal Democrat councillor Mozaquir Ali is also a member of the Burnley Task Force. He revealed that the report will look at the way that government funding is distributed.

He said: "There is a suggestion that in the future funding should not be area based. I personally think that funding should be based on need."

Mr Ali's Daneshouse ward has a high proportion of Asian residents.

"We have areas in Burnley that are in greater need than others, but it is a fact that Daneshouse is deprived and so is Burnley Wood."

On the accusation that community leaders had failed to spot the signs of imminent trouble and had not built bridges between communities, Mr Ali said: "That is something that I know will be within the Task Force report, but personally I haven't had any evidence of that.

"If that is the view of some people of the town then that is fine, but I do not think the disturbances are down to a failing of community leaders, whether Asian or white.

"It is a combination of factors including social depravation and unemployment."