BRADFORD people need to "stand together" to prevent the threat of children and young people being radicalised by extremism, speakers told a conference in the city today.

Safeguarding young people against exposure to extremism was the theme of the Supplementary Schools Conference 2015, held at the Carlisle Business Centre in Manningham.

Opening the conference, Jani Rashid, head of diversity and cohesion at Bradford Council, said the event had been organised as a result of community concerns over the Dawood sisters of Bradford, who seemingly travelled to Syria in June.

"Lot of concerns were raised by the community, and the local authority was asked what was being done to ensure that children were protected from such situations," he said.

"I'm proud to say that our supplementary schools have always been there for our children and the community, but when situations like the Dawood sisters arise, we have to step up to the plate and say we are here to work with and support you."

Ishtiaq Ahmed, of Bradford Council for Mosques, said people had contacted him expressing concerns that the organisation was supporting the event, questioning whether it constituted an acceptance that radicalisation was taking place locally.

"This is a conference about how we as a faith community can together, collectively, play our part in how to combat the threat of radicalisation to our communities and the safety of society in Bradford," he said.

"It would have been irresponsible for us as a faith organisation not to take part.

"Having said that, we have serious reservations about the Goverment's Prevent agenda and its treatment of the Muslim community.

"In our experience of working in Bradford, with 90-plus mosques and supplementary schools, I am not aware of any which in any way, directly or indirectly, promotes and motivates people towards radicalisation.

"It is important that the Government takes forward its Prevent strategy in a manner that does not isolate, target, or blame any specific community, including the Muslim community.

"Let us move forward, all of us together, in our ultimate objective of making our cities, our towns, our neighbourhoods, our places of work and worship, safe and free from extremism."

Acting Archdeacon Alistair Helm, of the Diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, and also vicar of St Paul's Church in Manningham, said: "I believe that we stand together as a community in tackling extremism.

"Our journey is going to be bumpy, we will have our disagreements, but that doesn't matter, we talk together as human beings trying to provide the best environment to our children.

"Individualism has caused us to be strangers from our neighbours, and when that happens, the door opens for extremism to walk straight in.

"It's easier for people to form strong social links if we recognise a sense of pride for the place where we live."

Superintendent Vince Firth, of West Yorkshire Police, accepted there was anger over the Prevent strategy, but stressed his agenda was simply to safeguard vulnerable people.

"Despite what anyone thinks about the Prevent strategy, we can't let it get in the way of what we are trying to do, which is safeguard our children," he said.

"Children are groomed for terrorism just like in any other way, like people who groom for child sexual exploitation, a lot of the methods used are absolutely identical.

"I do not think for one second we have got grooming for terrorism in any of our madrassas in Bradford, because if I did, I'd shut them down.

"We're not about that, it's about spotting the signs when our children are vulnerable."

A small group of protesters had gathered outside the building in an effort to prevent the crowd of more than 100 people from attending the conference, handing out leaflets criticising the Prevent strategy.

They read: "This event builds on a false premise that radicalisation is happening in madrassas and schools.

"Therefore, participation is tacit approval to its underlying assumptions, which we totally reject."