A man whose house was stripped by burglars has joined an army of people on two Bradford estates in a blitz on criminals.

Chris Binns, 64, a resident on the Ravenscliffe estate, was the victim of burglary five years ago.

The thieves took everything from his house except a table and a bed.

"They even took my vacuum cleaner so I couldn't clean the mess they had left," said Mr Binns.

He is backing one of the biggest campaigns in West Yorkshire in which Eccleshill police have joined forces with Bradford Council.

Burglars are being warned that they will be wasting their time if they try to get into 1,500 homes in Ravenscliffe and Greengates because the police have marked electrical goods with permanent high-visibility marking.

Earlier this year, Odsal police marked 4,000 items of property from 600 homes in the Parkside estate, West Bowling, and burglaries tumbled in the area. The marking - which involves putting the resident's postcode and house number on property - was called "unfair" by one burglar.

Said Mr Binns: "The raid on my home was a terrible experience and I hope this scheme stops burglaries in the area - although I must admit the last six months have got better.''

Eccleshill crime reduction officer PC Jez Moore, who co-ordinated the scheme, said the marking made goods valueless to criminals. He added: "Burglars use stolen property as currency, but these items would be easily identified as stolen property, almost impossible to sell on and would therefore not be worth selling in the first place."

PC Moore said items marked include televisions, videos, golf clubs - even a Braille typewriter.

The Safe at Home co-ordinator for Bradford Council's Housing and Environment Directorate, Gillian Mayfield, said the scheme was an ideal way to provide low-cost crime prevention for a large number of people.

"Not only is it reducing burglaries, it is also bringing down fear of crime and improving the quality of life on the estates," she said.

Residents who have not had their property marked should contact Ravenscliffe Housing Office.

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