Motorists have been branded as "bloody minded" for creating city centre chaos.

Police have slapped more than 200 tickets in three days on cars turning from Cheapside into Market Street causing gridlock..

One officer booked 102 drivers in one day.

The motorists will have to cough-up £4,000 in fines between them or get penalty points.

Transportation and highways committee chairman Councillor Latif Darr said motorists were deliberately ignoring warning signs.

And Chief Inspector Ray Shepherd, of Bradford Central police, said the blitz on the lawbreakers would continue.

He said drivers had obviously previously broken the law by driving on Market Street to turn into Bank Street, which is now closed.

They then try to get back via Sunbridge Road and Hall Ings, creating even more chaos.

The traffic jams have stretched into Canal Road and Manningham Lane.

Chief Insp Shepherd said only buses were allowed from Cheapside into Market Street.

"The present road works should not have made any difference as the turn was prohibited before."

Traffic officer PC Richard Summerscales said: "This is the busiest I have ever been - one day I issued 102 tickets.

"If we didn't enforce the law then the city centre would end up even more gridlocked."

Coun Darr said: "We knew there could be problems but never expected anything like this. It is bloody mindedness. They are creating problems for both drivers and pedestrians. I am pleased the police are clamping down."

But today taxi driver Tony Kelly said the signs from Cheapside were confusing because they said "no entry, except for access."

Mr Kelly, who said a colleague had been booked for taking passengers to the Old Bank pub in Market Street said they believed it meant the cabs could go in to drop customers off.

"It's chaotic. They should improve the signs," he said.

Mother-of-three Lorraine Lynch Lynch, 40, of Ravenscliffe, was given a ticket earlier in the week.

"It's crazy," she said. "I didn't know I was doing anything wrong - everyone uses that road."

Bank Street will remain closed for another fortnight for the £315,000 scheme aimed at reducing city centre traffic and making it safer for pedestrians.

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