REVEALED: Hotspots for knife and gun crime in Bradford district

More than 350 offences involving knives or other sharp instruments, and 150 gun offences, were recorded in the district in the year to the end of March.

The wards with the highest recorded number of knife crimes were Tong, with a "shocking" 30 incidents, and Bowling and Barkerend and Manningham, with 28. Wibsey and Manningham had the highest number of gun offences involving actual firearms, rather than air weapons, with eight each. There were more than 80 offences involving actual firearms, ranging from injury being caused, to weapons being used to threaten.

The knife offences include 'stabs' and threats.

The figures for Bradford were much lower than those in the Leeds district, which had 654 knife crimes and 220 gun crimes. The highest knife crime figures for West Yorkshire were in Leeds wards, with 73 in Gipton and Harehills, 61 in Armley, and 59 in City and Hunslet.

A total of 32 knife crime were recorded across Keighley's three Council wards, with 17 of those in the central area, five in the east ward and 10 in the west of the town.

In the Aire Valley, 11 knife crimes were recorded in Shipley, four in Windhill and Wrose, just two in Bingley, three in Bingley Rural and three in Baildon.

Meanwhile, Ilkley, Wharfedale and the Worth Valley were the only wards where no knife crimes occurred.

Councillor Alan Wainwright (Lab, Tong) said the figures for knife crime in his ward were "absolutely shocking."

He said: "It surprises me that the figures are as high as that. I don't know why it should be, I would have thought they would have been higher in the city centre.

"I am extremely concerned because of the sort of impact knives can have. There is no place for this in society. It makes you wonder which way society is going."

Coun Wainwright said there had been an issue with gun crime in Tong but the figures for that had come down after work between the police, Council and Incommunities.

But he added: "I am just shocked about the knife figures. I shall discuss them with the portfolio holder at Bradford Council for crime and the community, and I will be writing to the Police and Crime Commissioner, Mark Burns-Williamson.

"I will also be contacting police inspector Kevin Pickles to get his views on it."

Cllr Ralph Berry (Lab, Wibsey) said: "It is just unacceptable. It really is worrying. Councillor Green and I are certainly working with the police very closely on this.

"The resurgence of this sort of crime does no-one any good. It creates all sorts of anxiety. We have to have a full and frank discussion about this because it is just completely unacceptable.

"People in a community like Wibsey do not deserve to suffer for the sake of hardcore criminals and idiots. We need to make sure these crimes are reduced."

Cllr Berry also warned about the dangers of air weapons. He said: "Air guns are not toys. They are capable of being lethal weapons.

"It is not funny. In the wrong hands, unlicensed air guns can be extremely damaging. Anything we can do to raise awareness on that would be good."

Cllr Sarfraz Nazir (Lab, Manningham) said: "We need to work closely with the police to look at this issue, and the underlying reasons for it, and address those.

"It is an issue that also needs to be addressed by working with the local community, as well as with the police."

Mark Burns-Williamson said he would be discussing the issue with West Yorkshire's Chief Constable.

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He said: "I want to reassure the public that due to increased vigilance, willingness in communities and better recording practices, more people are coming forward to report to the police in relation to possession of offensive weapons.

“I have recently met with the Chief Constable and raised the issue of possession of offensive weapons generally and was reassured that this is not perceived to be a massively increasing threat.

“However, it is something that I will be addressing again with the Chief Constable, following the reports last week of knives being detected on entry to the courts, to ensure we are doing all we can with police and partners to address these concerns and make clear strong action will be taken.

“I have recently supported West Yorkshire Police's weapons amnesty which aims to stop weapons getting into the wrong hands and gave members of the public a safe place to dispose of firearms, ammunition, knives and other weapons they may have. This has helped to get many illegal and dangerous weapons off the streets and prevent potential crimes of the future.”

Detective Superintendent Jon Morgan, of Bradford District Police, said: "Along with other police forces we have improved our crime recording standards to accurately record all offences including those involving weapons. Inevitably this has resulted in a slight increase in knife related crime over the last 12 months.

"However, the figures include cases where a perpetrator was arrested in possession of a knife or sharp implement , not necessarily where someone has been attacked or injured.

"Efforts to reduce violent crime as a whole are a priority for the police and this includes ongoing educational work to reinforce the dangers of carrying knives, and weapons amnesties. The impact of this has seen a reduction in personal robberies compared to last year.

"We continue to appeal to anyone who has information about the use of or possession of any offensive weapons to contact Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111."