Families of the Bradford rioters jailed for last year's violence have called on the Home Secretary to review their "severe" penalties.

Up to two dozen friends and relatives protested outside the Home Office on Tuesday about their jail terms.

The members of the Fair Justice for All campaign said the sentences, of up to eight years, were disproportionate to those given in riots elsewhere in the UK.

The protest comes after David Blunkett labelled the rioters "maniacs" and said they were "whingeing" about their sentences.

The violence caused widespread damage

Protesters, carrying banners, handed a petition in to the Home Office and a letter addressed to Mr Blunkett demanding action.

They called for a review of both the sentencing and of how the authorities dealt with events in Bradford last summer.

One banner read: "One stone, four years! One petrol bomb, two years! Fair justice!"

Shanaz Lal, whose brother, Mohammed Arif, was jailed for five-and-a-half years, said: "No one is saying they do not deserve to be punished, it is the severity of the sentences we object to."

"My brother threw a stone and was given five-and-a-half years.

"We have had riots in Millwall, in Belfast and elsewhere and they did not get sentences as harsh as these.

Review call

"Why is Bradford being treated so differently?"

The riots in the West Yorkshire city last July caused millions of pounds of damage and sparked what became Britain's biggest ever criminal investigation.

Judges at Bradford Crown Court handed down dozens of lengthy sentences in a series of cases, with some rioters jailed for up to eight-and-a-half years.

Campaigner Arshad Javed said: "We have not just come here to express our anger at Mr Blunkett's comments.

"We want a review of those events and we want an element of proportionality in the sentencing."