Fed-up business owners claimed Eccleshill is rife with crime when they met with a local councillor.

They said the village was a hotspot for armed robberies, break-ins, vandalism, vehicle crime and drug-dealing.

Eccleshill ward Councillor Geoff Reid chaired the meeting at the village’s mechanics institute.

One disgruntled business owner said: “Eccleshill is a backwater. It is a haven for drug-dealing and things like that. I am sure CCTV would solve a lot of problems.”

Another said they would move their business elsewhere if they could.

They said: “We see so many drug deals going on. We report it to police but it just carries on.

“It is a massive problem in Eccleshill.”

In response, police said Eccleshill does not have a particular problem with drugs, but that they have upped the number of patrols in the area following a rise in raids on retail premises.

The meeting heard that a female shop assistant was threatened with a knife at Quencher on Norman Lane recently.

Graham Lister, of Listers newsagent and convenience store, said his business was regularly the target of raiders.

He talked of delivery drivers being afraid to drop newspapers off in the mornings because of drug-dealing.

The Flower Room florist was targeted in one raid at the end of last month when a rock was thrown at the shop’s security glass in the middle of the night. The raiders made off with the owner’s purse, that was left in the shop.

A few nights later the dentist’s surgery next-door-but-one to the florist was hit by a break-in, where £150 was stolen.

The owners of the florist added that they had also had people coming into the shop trying to spend fake £20 notes.

Coun Reid said: “The community has to find a way of saying we will not put up with this.”

Business owners discussed an idea of pooling together for CCTV cameras, and also asked whether Bradford Council could stump up for cameras. They also discussed applying for money through Proceeds of Crime.

Inspector Pete Tuff, of the Eccleshill neighbourhood policing team, said: “While it is true the area has seen recent robberies, we have arrested and charged two men in connection with offences who have been remanded to prison awaiting trial.

“It is also a fact that crime is falling, with household burglaries down 14 per cent, drugs offences down 14 per cent and robbery down 17 per cent over the last year.