A WISH-list drawn up by a Bradford campaign group to make the city ‘safer and cleaner’ is being looked at by the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Bradford4Better group, founded by Inayah Sher, has held protests in City Park, along Leeds Road and around Little Horton since April, to spread the message that they want a clamp-down on disruptive behaviour.

She said: “Our group is totally dedicated to improving Bradford and tackling some of the social issues that undermine Bradford’s image and behaviours that frustrate and incense residents.”

The group’s concerns have been taken up by PCC Mark Burns-Williamson who said: “My office has been copied in to contact from Bradford4Better and West Yorkshire Police are looking into the issues they have raised. Albeit we are already working closely with the police, Bradford Council and other organisations to address road safety issues in the district with additional resources and it is a priority within the Police and Crime Plan."

A spokesperson for Bradford Council said: “We always welcome the involvement of members of the public in helping us to resolve issues affecting our communities and which Bradford Council and its partners are working hard on many levels to try and tackle.”

The group has attracted a high number of followers since it began in May and now has 245 members who update the site with dashcam footage and pictures of areas of littering, as well as suspected rogue traders.

Writing on Facebook page Mrs Sher said: “Time for change - we can’t take it anymore.

“Dangerous driving has become the norm, drug dealing in broad daylight was already a norm, and litter thrown outside takeaways and on the streets without care or consideration has been the norm for a long time; and we now have fireworks going off whenever anyone feels like it.

“Surely, this criminal/socially disruptive behaviour can no longer go unchallenged?”

Mrs Sher said Bradford4Better had listed a number of suggestions to make the city safer. These include:

  • Increase the number of traffic wardens so they can patrol outside mosques on Fridays or during a funeral service to prevent road hazards and potential accidents, while upholding traffic laws and regulations.
  • The restriction on the use of fireworks after 7pm and penalties for those who create a social nuisance.
  • Extra presence of traffic wardens on Leeds Road, Duckworth Lane, Great Horton Road and any other road which is notorious for illegal parking or dangerous driving.
  • Equip wardens with cameras so they can collect evidence and penalise socially destructive behaviour.
  • Increase in police patrols on streets notorious for drug dealing.
  • A reward scheme to ‘dob a flytipper’.
  • Support B4B with a district-wide clean-up campaign.
  • Penalise business owners who fail to clean daily outside their premises.
  • Increase council tax for unkempt, unclean streets, and check why CCTV cameras in potentially high-crime areas are not working.

The group is also looking at creating a B4B celebration day and is asking for support from the police and Council on this.

Mrs Sher said the group was also petitioning the Government on amending the Firework Regulations of 2004 to stop their anti-social use.