TWO men were left with serious injuries following a 'racist' street fight between two gangs outside a Blackburn garage.

The attack followed a running battle between two car loads of men which began in Barbara Castle Way and continued up to the Esso Garage in Furthergate where the fight broke out.

Police said the fight began when a taxi containing four white men stopped at a red traffic light in Barbara Castle Way at 8.45pm on Sunday.

A D-registration BMW with four or five Asian men on board pulled up alongside the taxi and both groups began to shout abuse at one another.

The abuse continued as both cars pulled away and drove up Eanam towards the Esso garage where the BMW pulled in front of the taxi and forced it to stop.

Two of the men in the taxi got out of it and were assaulted by the group of Asians who then abandoned the BMW and ran off.

Both injured men were taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary, one with head injuries and a suspected fractured jaw and the other with cuts and bruises to his head.

The first was today recovering in hospital and the second recovering at home.

Police later recovered the BMW but are appealing for any witnesses to the car chase or to the fight.

They said they had no descriptions of the offenders but were hoping to quiz one of the injured men today.

Det Sgt Mark Evans, of Blackburn CID, said: "We are treating this as a racially motivated incident and are appealing for anybody that saw anything at all to get in touch with us on 01254 353571 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111."