Vehicle-related violent crime is becoming a growing problem in Bradford and district, and one which police must make every effort to nip in the bud now.

It is bad enough when a car is stolen while the owner is not there, but an increasing trend among thugs is to attack motorists as they are getting into their vehicles or locking them up outside their homes.

Father-of-two Nick Stamp today tells in the Telegraph & Argus how he feared for his life after a gang of four attacked him with a wooden club and a monkey wrench as he left his home in Harden for work.

The same gang is believed to be responsible for another attack in which a woman had her car stolen as she returned to her Shipley home after shopping in Bradford.

It is certainly not the first time that the T&A has reported incidents of so-called car-jacking. Indeed, it seems that violent crooks know no limits when it comes to stealing the car of their choice from innocent motorists.

Motorists are already well-versed in taking precautions to protect their cars with alarms and immobilisers and parking them in well-lit, busy places and patrolled car-parks. But this disturbing trend of using violence to attack people outside their own homes in a bid to steal their cars is something that is difficult for the ordinary person to legislate against.

Police across Bradford and district need to come up with a workable way of dealing with this problem before it becomes more widespread and ultimately forces people to think twice about coming to Bradford to shop or, indeed, to live.