RESIDENTS are pulling together in a bid to tackle the problems they say have been blighting their village.

The Wyke Village Residents Association was officially launched at a meeting on Wednesday with the aim of improving quality of life in Wyke and reducing issues like speeding, theft, burglary, drugs and antisocial behaviour.

Once the group gets up and running, it will be able to bid for funding to make improvements, working with partners including Bradford Council and the police.

Inspector Shelley Slarke, of the Bradford South Neighbourhood Policing Team, spoke at the meeting and gave an update on work which is getting underway in response to residents' concerns.

The police contact point, which is currently based at Appleton Academy, will be moved to a more central location at the bowling hut on Mayfield Avenue.

And in another boost, she confirmed that a CCTV camera would be fitted at the top of Towngate.

Last year, a number of traders in the village called for cameras to be fitted after their businesses fell victim to a spate of demoralising break-ins.

In a step forward for traders, Insp Slarke said they had also managed to get enough businesses on board to set up a Shop Watch scheme in Wyke and that it would hopefully be in operation by the end of July.

Such schemes see police and businesses working together, with information and photographs of those offending in the area being shared with traders signed up to the programme.

Councillor David Warburton (Lab, Wyke) said once a residents' group is set up, different ways of levering funding become available.

The founding group reinforced the importance of reporting crime.

Insp Slarke said: "If we don't know there's an issue, then we won't prioritise patrols in that area."

One resident said: "We're all here to try and make the village better and if the meetings continue, people need to keep coming,

"People need to keep coming and help out wherever they can."

Speaking after the meeting, committee member Beverley Shutak said: "I think it was very positive.

"I think the turn out is amazing, because we've had meetings before where half-a-dozen people turned up.

"We've worked hard on it. We've been working on the idea for about four months.

"I've got my own daughters, they are grown up, then I've got young relatives.

"My youngest daughter, she has been harassed when she got off the bus one night.

"You don't want that - you want to be able to walk freely on the streets and not have to worry.

"There has been so much antisocial behaviour, people setting fire to things, burglaries and thefts, so it was just time that we all stood together and thought 'no that's it - it has got to stop'."

Cllr Warburton said: "I think any local residents' group is of importance for the local community."

He said councillors and police would do whatever they could to support the group's aims.