A young entrepreneur has spoken of his despair after his city centre shop was hit by crime four times in the space of a year.

Junaid Hussain, who runs Big Shotter Fireworks on Darley Street, said the shop had suffered a burglary and three attempted break-ins over the past 12 months.

The break-in, on October 16 last year, left him without any profit in 2017 after £6,000 worth of stock was stolen.

Mr Hussain, 20, expressed frustration at what he described as a lack of support from the police and Bradford Council.

He said: “It’s frustrating, I’m only a young lad and all I’ve ever wanted to do is sell fireworks. I’ve put all my hard work into this, put all my money into this shop, and now I’m out of pocket. Last year’s profits were taken by the burglary.”

Mr Hussain said he had to do a lot of the “detective” work himself, after finding footage on Snapchat of fireworks that looked suspiciously like the products taken.

He said: “I got a direct address, names, I had to do my own detective work. I’d been outside the house to check and the reason I knew they were my fireworks is only I can sell these types in Bradford – I saw them in the garden, but police did nothing.”

Police said they spoke to a 23-year-old woman in connection with last October’s burglary after a video appeared on social media showing her with what appeared to be boxes of fireworks at a Bradford address.

But a police spokesperson said: “Officers also searched the property but did not locate the fireworks or evidence of them and the investigation was filed pending further information.”

In the same month, a 28-year-old man was also arrested in connection with an attempted burglary at the shop but was later released without charge due to insufficient evidence to progress the investigation, police said.

Mr Hussain’s frustrations were fuelled further at the start of this month after two attempted break-ins in one week, the most recent of which was captured on CCTV - shown here.

One pane of glass was smashed and had to be replaced, and insurance alone has now cost £4,000.

Mr Hussain claimed a scientific team were meant to come to the shop at a designated time following the incident, but he said they hadn’t arrived over three and a half hours later, despite pestering them on the phone.

He added: “I was told more police patrols would be put on, watching out for the shop, but we’ve had none of that.”

A police spokesperson said: “Enquiries are continuing into an attempted burglary at the premises which happened between 5pm and 7.30pm on 2 September.”

Mr Hussain, and his uncle, Jamil Ashraf, an ex-sales director who rents the premises out to his nephew, have tried to find solutions for the ongoing problem.

They had been keen to install external roller shutters, but Conservation Area planning restrictions put paid to that possible solution.

The shop has received permission for internal shutters, but Mr Hussain said he felt these would be insufficient to stop further raids.

He urged the Council to show “common sense” with its roller shutter policy, claiming Darley Street would be left with more empty shops unless policymakers showed flexibility.

A Bradford Council spokesperson, said: “The council granted planning permission in April 2018 for the owners to make security improvements to the shop front that would be appropriate for a conservation area.”

This included provisions for the installation of an internal steel roller shutter for the front window, an aluminium and glazed shop front, as well as bringing the two doorways flush with the street to improving visibility to the doorways.

The council said internal shutters would help protect stock within the shop, but Mr Ashraf said a shutter on the inside wouldn’t work and he isn’t sure how much longer they can carry on without better support from the authorities.

Mr Hussain also said that he applied for a City Centre Growth Scheme grant from the council last November and believed he’d ticked all the boxes.

He added that he’d been in and out of meetings with them over several months, as well as setting up a specific bank account and putting together a business plan.

A Council spokesperson, said: “The application wasn’t successful because the proposal didn’t meet the full requirements of the scheme, rather than it being from a fireworks company.

“It is important that the projects we support offer good value for money, are a sound investment of public money and add to the city centre offer.”

Mr Ashraf said: “In October and November the street is full and we’re bringing custom to this area of Bradford. We have fireworks only we can sell exclusively in Bradford and we’re looking at other stuff, such as importing from China, but how long can we try to make it?”

Big Shotter Fireworks has seen its trade move from seasonal, to year-round, for events such as weddings, according to Mr Ashraf.

He added that the businesses currently open on Darley Street compliment each other during their respective quiet periods but said the vast number of “to let” and “for sale” signs highlight a need for better support, particularly for those businesses suffering hardships.

He said: “We’re trying our best to make things work, we’re going out of our way to get footfall. We’ve touted plans to have three one bed apartments upstairs here. But, when is the council going to do something, when is it going to take responsibility?

“They’re looking for blue chip companies, but small enterprises are what will work best here.”

Police are still appealing for anyone who may be able to assist with the investigation into the attempted burglary on September 2.

Anyone who can help should contact the Bradford City Neighbourhood Policing Team on 101, quoting crime reference 13180438035, or use the live chat facility on the West Yorkshire Police website.

Information can also be reported anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.