Engineers are drilling deep to lay cables in preparation for the vast £300 million Broadway shopping scheme.

They are using ducts like huge needles to pass the cables under Bank Street and Broadway beneath Bradford Beck.

The specialised operation, which avoids the need to dig trenches, is being watched by shoppers getting a unique view of what lies beneath their feet.

Mark Wood, site manager for Mowlem which is carrying out the £20 million scheme with Bradford Council, said: "The beck is clear water but we have found it smelly.

"This is a very highly specialised job and involves directional drilling underneath the beck to feed telephone cables inside a chamber underneath the water. Vehicles and pedestrians can still use Bank Street but it is taking away some of the parking space.

"The public are seeing some very skilful engineering to directly drill under the beck and feed the cables through."

The engineers are drilling more than five metres under the road and rods are then used to make the holes bigger.

The ducts are attached to the end of the rods which pull them through.

Mr Wood said the last operation of its type he had been involved in was on motorways in South Yorkshire.

Connecting the City is one of the biggest civil engineering projects ever held in Bradford. Mowlem and the Council have worked from a blueprint to keep traffic moving while the city is being dug up.

Executive member for regeneration Councillor Simor Cooeke said: "Generally speaking, the way this project has worked has been exemplary and the traffic has kept moving.

"There seem to be the same number of people in the shops as normal at this time of the year and I am very pleased the city appears to be holding its own at this time."

The project is expected to finish at the end of the year and next year will see the demolition of buildings, including part of the existing Broadway buildings and the Petergate block of shops and offices.

Petergate is expected to close to traffic soon. Debenhams andt BHS will be the main tenants in the Stannifer Broadway shopping scheme.

There are plans for 80 other shops, 171 apartments, a 120 bedroom hotel and 2,500 parking spaces. The developers Stannifer say they are negotiating with other major retailers to take the rest of the shops.