These shocking pictures of fighting, alleged drug dealing and people being sick or urinating in the street were captured on camera in just one night of disorder in Bradford city centre.

The CCTV pictures have been released today by an exasperated resident who claims the images are typical of the intimidating behaviour that forced him out of his £250,000 apartment in Ivegate.

The pictures have come to light after Edward Leigh, chairman of an influential House of Commons Public Accounts Committee, warned that city centres across the country were becoming "no-go areas" after dark, with drunken yobs behaving like "an occupying army loose in the streets".

The resident, who asked to remain anonymous over fears of further intimidation, said he had "asked and almost begged" West Yorkshire Police and Bradford Council to provide a greater police presence in the Ivegate area in the evenings and at weekends.

A police spokesman said Bradford attracted large numbers of people at night in common with other large city centres, and added that there had been a "dramatic" reduction in city centre violence since the launch of Operation Gridiron 18 months ago.

But Councillor Martin Smith, Bradford Council's executive member for safer communities, has ordered an immediate investigation to find out what is going wrong in this particular area of the city and how it can be put right.

The former resident moved out shortly after capturing these images on a CCTV camera he installed at a personal cost of more than £10,000 to protect himself and his property.

But he said: "I've had to move out and get another mortgage, leaving my apartment unoccupied as the crime levels mean my friends and even my own girlfriend are scared to visit.

"We overlooked Centenary Square and experienced regular intimidation, verbal and physical abuse and general anti-social crime that happens every evening, and in particular on weekends, but goes ignored.

"We have asked and asked, almost begged, Bradford South Police and the Council to police the area on an evening on the weekend but they continue to refuse and stand by while drugs are dealt, and assaults and criminal damage take place.

"The building has been damaged on a number of occasions with no arrests taking place even when we've identified the criminals. What is clear is that the city centre is declining in safety and residents are being the first to notice the impact.

"I wish I'd never moved into the city centre and not invested as I am now trapped with a worthless investment and horrible memories."

He said the problems worsened after the Unicorn pub and nightclub opened in Ivegate last summer.

Inspector Steve Baker, of the city centre neighbourhood policing team, said: "Bradford has the same sort of normal night-time economy issues as any other large city centre.

"While we understand his concerns and have spoken to him on a number of occasions about them, there has been a dramatic decrease in violent offences in the area since Operation Gridiron began 18 months ago.

"A total of 18 per cent of all violent crime in the Bradford South division was in the city centre area and this has been reduced to eight per cent over the last 18 months. That's a reduction of 1,000 crimes specifically as a result of Operation Gridiron.

"We are working hard to reduce this even further. We have worked with Council wardens providing high-visibility patrols during the daytime in the area. There's also a visible police presence on busy nights in the city centre. The licensing officer has visited the local nightclub on numerous occasions over the last few months to iron out perceived problems that he has. The club are also a member of the City Centre Beat Crime Partnership and they do try to spot potential trouble-makers."

Gary Stevenson, day manager at the Unicorn, said: "We are doing everything we can to clean it up and we have done that. We did get a few drug-related problems outside until they started putting up barriers at weekends to stop cars coming up Ivegate. We also see gangs walking around wanting to fight each other, but that's not really related to our premises."

Coun Smith said: "Anti-social behaviour is a problem everywhere but in Bradford we are taking great strides to tackle it head-on.

"I am concerned to hear about the resident's experiences living in the city centre and have ordered an immediate investigation to find out what is going wrong in this particular area of the city and how we can put it right."

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