Injuries caused by dog bites were responsible for more than 100 hospitalisations in Bradford and Airedale, new figures show.

In 12 months there were 103 hospital admissions in the district because of dog bites or attacks.

The figures for May 2011 to April 2012 are an increase on the previous year, when a total of 97 people were admitted to Bradford Royal Infirmary and Airedale General Hospital, Steeton , after being attacked by a dog.

The figures come from the Health and Social Care Information Centre and only relate to patients who were admitted to a bed, not those sent home after being treated in accident and emergency.

In Calderdale, 40 people were admitted to hospital after being bitten by a dog, an increase from 27 the pervious year. Hospitals in Leeds admitted the highest number of people with dog bite injuries in the Yorkshire region – 166, a decrease from 168 the previous year.

Nationally, there were 6,450 admissions for dog bites or strikes in the 12 months to April 2012, a 5.2 per cent rise on the pervious 12 month period (6,130). During the same period, admissions for all conditions increased by 1.3 per cent. The data shows that nationally, under-tens accounted for the highest rates of admissions in the 12 months to April, accounting for one in six admissions.

Plastic surgery was the treatment speciality with the highest rate of admissions for both children and adults under 70.

The Telegraph & Argus has repeatedly called for tighter controls on Dogs since a horrific attack on Rukhsana Khan in Bradford more than two decades ago.

In 2006, we launched a Curb The Danger Dogs campaign demanding that the Government toughened up the Dangerous Dogs Act, which was brought in after Rukhsana was savaged by a pit bull terrier in 1991, aged six.

In April, the Government announced plans for compulsory microchipping of dogs by breeders so owners can be traced, as well as plans to close a loophole in the law so that dog owners will face prosecution if their pet attacks someone on their property.