East Bowling is to get its own full-time beat bobby after a gang of around 40 youths went on the rampage.

In a two-hour spate of disturbances the group ripped lamp-posts out of the ground and lay them across the road in front of oncoming traffic.

One shopkeeper said his store came under fire from a barrage of bricks thrown by young thugs, believed to be aged around 16, and swigging alcohol from bottles. No-one was injured in the incident but Bradford South Police has confirmed that a full time community officer is now to be installed in the area for the next six months.

Rupert Oliver, of East Bowling Regeneration Committee, has been trying to collect a 1,000-name petition calling for a beat bobby to be introduced to the area. He described the news as a victory.

"There is no doubt that in the past East Bowling has got the short end of the stick when it comes to policing. When this happens it will be something for the whole community to be happy about.

"A local bobby will be able to help reduce the crime levels by picking up local intelligence and will stop incidents like we saw last Friday from occurring."

Police were called to the Flockton Road area of East Bowling last Friday at around 10pm but found the gang had already dispersed.

Jas Singh, owner of Flockton Mini Market, said: "It was just lawlessness. They were pulling up road signs and cones and throwing them at people's homes and into their gardens.

"We asked them to stop but they were abusive. It was very frightening. We need a local policeman here to protect us."

Councillor Mukhtar Ali (Lab, Bowling) said: "Any extra police presence in the area would help the situation.

"Violence such as this cannot be tolerated and I urge the police to take strong action to eliminate the possibility of any repetition of this behaviour."

After the incident a police spokesman said the area's part time community police officer would now be put on full-time duty.

She said: "This is not a knee jerk reaction. We are concerned about the problem of anti-social behaviour and we are working with the local community and the Council to try to solve the underlying causes of the problem.

Chairman of the East Bowling Regeneration Committee, Rupert Oliver, and shopkeeper Jas Singh are pictured with one of the bricks thrown by vandals.