AN initiative to tackle danger driving in Bradford will soon be expanded to tackle anti-social driving that one councillor has described as "aggressive, vicious bullying" on Bradford's roads.

Operation Steerside, by West Yorkshire Police, has seen over 1,000 vehicles seized and 13,000 danger drivers dealt with since it was set up in 2016.

Yesterday police announced that the programme would be expanded to take into account nuisance driving, and attempting to improve the reputation of driving in Bradford.

The announcement was made after a discussion of the scheme's success at the latest meeting of Bradford Council's Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday evening.

Simon D'Vali, principal engineer, highways, told the meeting Steerside has been a huge success in Bradford. He added: "It has taken a very large number of illegal cars off the road, and has led to a big clampdown on businesses illegally providing insurance to groups of young people and their 'pool cars.'"

Councillor Ralph Berry (Lab, Wibsey) said: "We need to improve driving in our city, as well as the dangers it has a huge impact on the reputation of our district. What you see on the roads is basically aggressive, vicious bullying, and it causes a lot of people grief and anger.

"Dangerous driving is not just causing accidents, it is causing people to feel they are not safe on our roads.

"You have people driving round the Great Horton Road area and their behaviour is linked to sexual harassment and intimidation. It is having an impact on the wellbeing of the city."

He said it was not just young drivers who were the issue, and through his work with the probation service he had come across "appalling" driving by people in their 60s.

Councillor David Heseltine (Cons, Bingley) said: "There has been a fantastic amount of work done, but there is still a serious amount of work that needs to be done."

A police spokesman said: “The prosecution of drivers who fail to abide by the law is what the majority of the law abiding public want to see. Steerside began in February 2016 – in that time over 1,000 uninsured and unsafe vehicles have been seized and we continue to crack down on the ‘fatal four’ – driving at inappropriate speed, using a mobile phone whilst driving, not wearing a seatbelt and drink/drug driving.

“We have also carried out nearly 13,000 specific actions against offending drivers – including issuing tickets for the above offences.

“This is helping to make a real difference across the District – road traffic collisions including fatal accidents are both down by a fifth. There is much more work to do as this remains an issue which frustrates the public.

“We are now broadening the work of Steerside – with a wider focus on nuisance and anti-social driving and the general perception of driving in the District.

“We will continue to work with the Local Authority and other partners to find ways to provide financial support for this work."