City centre trouble spots are highlighted by a police chief today in a name and shame campaign to cut car crime.

Since the beginning of April this year 720 vehicles have been stolen and a further 1,091 have been broken into in the Bradford Central police division.

Latest figures reveal the worst five areas to park your car are Vicar Lane, Westgate and Rawson Road, Forster Square, Jacobs Well and Little Germany.

Chief Inspector Ray Shepherd said although Bradford's record on car crime is no worse than any other large city, steps can be taken to improve it.

"I want the people of Bradford to know these facts so they can make an informed choice about where to park their car," he said.

He has called for extra investment to improve existing car parks and upgrade CCTV in the city centre and has welcomed bids for funding which have already been submitted by Bradford's partnership agencies.

Chief Insp Shepherd said: "Things can only get better with the bids that have been put in by the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership. In the meantime motorists can help themselves."

Today the Telegraph & Argus prints a list of the ten worst car parks for vehicle crime. The list will be updated every month so motorists can make a decision based on the latest facts.

Chief Insp Shepherd: "More than 80 per cent of vehicle crime is 'on-street', so a car park is still the safest place to go. And we're looking at the number of vehicles - some car parks obviously hold more vehicles. But these are the facts."

Vicar Lane car park, run by Bradford Council, heads the 'name and shame list' with 18 vehicles stolen and another 54 broken into between April 1 and December 14.

Bradford woman Jane Cipkin is one of those victims. She says the Council should get tough with criminals by using the £2 a day car parking charge to employ security guards.

The 23-year-old telesales worker has already had a Vauxhall Astra stolen and Peugeot 106 broken into on the Vicar Lane car park.

She said: "Why should we pay £40 a month to park in river-like puddles only to get your car broken into?

"It needs better CCTV, security guards watching the cars and more signs saying the area is being watched to deter criminals."

The police statistics also reveal:

The worst day for car crime is Monday, while the best is Sunday.

The top five cars broken into are Honda Civic (12.4 per cent), Volkswagen Polo (12.1 per cent), Ford Fiesta (11.8), Ford Escort (10.7), Vauxhall Cavalier (9.9).

The top five items of property stolen from cars are audio equipment (42 per cent), clothing (11.3), vehicle or care accessories (8.8), cases or luggage containers (8.4), bank and credit cards (8).

Chief Insp Shepherd said: "I'm not saying certain makes of car are easier to break into - there are a lot of factors, including how many of these models are in the city centre at one time. I just want to give people the facts."

Council John Ruding, leader member of Bradford Council's Community Safety Committee, said: "Car crime is a problem nationally and Bradford, like anywhere else, suffers from it.

"We'll carry on trying to get some private development of the Vicar Lane site which will include a secure car park. Unfortunately the two previous developments haven't gone through.

"The Council does not have the funds to install its own CCTV in that car park."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.