THE images we publish today of drug users injecting themselves with syringes in a back yard near family homes where children play will shock and disturb parents.

But they have become an all too regular occurrence for residents in streets around Sherborne Road, Spring Place and Grantham Place in Bradford city centre.

It is an intolerable situation, and it has led to parents keeping children indoors and some people being afraid to leave their homes.

Unfortunately, it seems the successful targeting of drug users and anti-social behaviour in the city centre has pushed this behaviour into more residential areas.

SHOCKING PICTURES: RESIDENTS' FEARS AS DRUG USERS 'SHOOT UP' IN THEIR BACKYARDS

As well as the revulsion and intimidation the drug use causes, there are also health risks, with rubbish and needles being discarded.

As Insp Tom Horner of Bradford Police says, when 30 people come to the police station to see him, it shows there are genuine concerns.

It is obviously not an easy situation to resolve, and many factors have to be given due consideration.

In fact the solution to a similar problem in the city centre appears to be the reason it is now happening here, so there is always the risk it is simply displaced somewhere else.

And we must not forget that the sad unfortunates in these pictures are themselves somebody’s children, and the underlying cause of their substance abuse is obviously an issue in itself.

Regardless of that, it is unacceptable that families living in and around these streets are suffering in this way, and the police and the council have to find some way to help them return to their normal, everyday life.