"Something has gone wrong in Oldham," the Labour MP, Mr Michael Meacher, warned yesterday as he called for an independent inquiry after the farright British National Party won over 11,000 votes.
In the most successful electoral performance by the party in its history, the BNP capitalised on recent racial tensions in the town and pushed the Liberal Democrats into fourth place in Mr Meacher's Oldham West and Royton seat, polling 6,552 votes, representing 16.4 per cent of the vote.
In neighbouring Oldham East and Saddleworth the party came fourth with 5,091 votes - taking an 11.2 per cent share of the vote.
As Asian community leaders expressed their concern, Mr Meacher suggested the BNP had won votes because of the Conservative row over race ahead of the general election.
"The Tory vote slumped in my constituency and the largest part of it went to the BNP," Mr Meacher said. "I don't believe that that would have happened had, first of all, William Hague not made clear his view that the race card was being played, that this was becoming a `foreign land' and clearly the local Tories very much agreed with that."
The BNP clearly had the greatest support in areas where white communities did not live alongside Asian voters, Mr Meacher said and he urged the people of Oldham to take part in an "open, transparent and frank inquiry . . . saying what went wrong and why".
Two nights of widespread violence in Oldham at the end of last month were apparently sparked off by a row between two schoolboys but were underlined by growing tension between members of the white and Asian communities. However, police accused the BNP and the National Front of fuelling the unrest by their provocative presence in the town prior to the riots and clearly racial tension played into the hands of the BNP who actively targeted Oldham in the election campaign.
Tension could be further increased this weekend if a planned National Front demonstration goes ahead.
Mr Kurshid Ahmed, a member of the Pakistani Cultural Association, said he was appalled by the votes for the BNP. "It's a real concern and is frightening. I don't think this is going to be a very safe town," he said.
"Things had started to calm down here but I think Asian youths may be angry at this. We never thought there was so many people who would vote for them. The gravity of the problem in Oldham is becoming clear."
The BNP leader, Mr Nick Griffin, who stood in Oldham West, denied support for the party would incite violence: "Young men feel there is nothing for them in the political process. Now they know there is someone standing up for them."
Councillor Mohammed Azam, who represents the Alexandra Ward, including Glodwick, which was at the centre of the recent riots, said of the ballot result: "It's disgusting. I was very shocked by it."