Community leaders and a councillor have hit out at the way a documentary about Ravenscliffe has been billed.

The documentary, screened on the Community Channel, which is available on Freeview, highlighted the work of 44-year-old Eric Henderson.

Mr Henderson helped to transform a disused roundabout into a community garden at the entrance to Ravenscliffe estate on Harrogate Road.

But community leaders have reacted angrily after learning how the documentary was promoted to the media by the Community Channel, which labelled Ravenscliffe as "notorious" and "famous only for the riots and BNP support".

A press release from the Community Channel said: "Starting with the notorious Ravenscliffe estate in Bradford, which is receiving a Britain In Bloom Neighbourhood Award and is famous only for riots and BNP support, we see a community regaining its heart after years of social deprivation."

Ravenscliffe Community Association chair Anne Henderson said she was angry about the way Ravenscliffe had been described, despite being pleased with the documentary itself.

"It's unfair to refer to us like this," she said. "I am not happy and shall be contacting the Community Channel about this.

"We were pleased with the documentary. It did not even mention the BNP, racism or riots.

"We have been volunteering on this estate for six years. We tried to bring the estate back together."

"The 'riots' are down to the media - it was a few lads from different estates and was over in an hour. It was one outburst one night. The BNP tried to leaflet the estate a few years ago and had no support whatsoever on the estate."

Mr Henderson, of Langdale Road, joined friends and volunteers to create the community garden in memory of 13-year-old Kyle Davies, who died under the wheels of a lorry in 2002.

Mr Henderson said: "The documentary did a really good job because they showed the good work that was going on. I imagine when they did a search on Ravenscliffe they found stuff about the riots because for years that's all that's been written about Ravenscliffe.

"Whenever something bad happens it's 20 times worse than when something good happens. I think that's the way the media describe it.

"But there are a lot of good people here and a lot of good work is going on."

Residents' work in transforming the piece of land in Ravenscliffe and their subsequent efforts to push for a community centre, The Gateway, also feature in the documentary called RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Britain In Bloom.

Eccleshill councillor Dorothy Wallace added: "It's awful that this has been put out by the Community Channel. It could have been billed a lot more sensitively.

"The people of Ravenscliffe have struggled to get rid of the riots tag and they are still being labelled.

"It's putting down the work that Eric and his wife and other people have done.

"We have worked for two years to get rid of being associated with riots, BNP and deprivation.

"All the good work they have done at the Gateway has been thrown down the toilet.

"People in Ravenscliffe are great people. They cannot get rid of the label. They don't want this to be an area of deprivation."

The Community Channel defended its decision.

A spokesman said: "Whether you like it or not, in recent years it has been known for the riots that took place. The producer/director spent a long time there talking to people and he drew the conclusion that this is what people in Ravenscliffe felt.

"The whole point of this documentary is that we are showing it in light of how it is now. We are showing it as a community that has changed and is now a positive place to be."