A "ring of steel" has been thrown around the district's robbery hot spots as police vow to take control of the streets.

Scores of officers have been deployed in a major police initiative aimed at slashing street crime by half.

Detective Superintendent John Parkinson, pictured, the man leading the war on bag snatchers, muggers and mobile-phone thieves, said he wants to take the fight to the criminals themselves.

"There will be no escape for those who commit street crime," he said. "Our officers will be throwing a ring of steel around this city to make sure those who cause misery by robbing and stealing are brought to justice.

"This is not a one-off operation. We are launching a sustained campaign against these criminals and we are asking the public to be part of that by passing on information."

Police in Bradford and Keighley have been told to get a grip on rising street crime to back up Prime Minister Tony Blair's pledge to significantly reduce pavement robberies by the end of September.

The Home Office-funded campaign began with a seven-day effort in which 60 officers are taking to the streets to deter would-be offenders, respond swiftly to incidents and pick up suspects. Officers have also been given Section 60 stop-and-search powers to use against anyone they suspect may have committed or may be about to commit a crime.

They have also been told by police chiefs to make sure all robberies are detected.

Det Supt Parkinson said: "We want to strike fear into the heart of the criminal.

"It should be a very busy week and I am confident we will see a dramatic decrease in the number of robberies occurring on our streets."

He said crime has fallen significantly in the last six years and an upturn in street robberies has only occurred in recent months.

He said: "Clearly things are much safer now than they used to be but the fear of crime is equally important to us.

"Crime like this can have a major impact on people's quality of life because it involves violence or the threat of violence."

He attributed the sharp increase in the number of street robberies over the past few months to a rise in juvenile-on-juvenile robberies and the increasing numbers of people carrying mobile phones.

But he said muggings still only account for a very small percentage of the overall crime figures.

"The message to all offenders is if you are going to commit robberies in Bradford you are going to get caught," he declared.