Convicted bus fare dodgers are to be named and shamed on posters for other passengers to see in a new crackdown by transport bosses.

Offenders who refused to pay fixed penalties during spot checks by inspectors have been taken to court and ordered to pay fines and costs totalling hundreds of pounds.

Now lists of their names and the amounts they had to pay are to be posted on buses across the district in a further move to plug the loss of revenue from passengers who fail to pay the full amounts for their journeys.

And the head of Bradford's biggest bus company has pledged that there will be no let-up in the drive to catch the dodgers whose actions penalise the honest fare-paying public.

Bradford First Bus managing director Jonathan May said: "For each passenger who does not pay the correct fare the honest customer is penalised.

"We are regularly criticised because our fares have increased, yet if everyone paid the correct fare then these increases may not be necessary.

"What each fare dodger must also remember is that each prosecution results in the individual having a criminal record for life.

"We will be continuing with our fraud detection campaign over the coming months."

The first list of the names of 17 offenders and the fines and costs they were ordered to pay by magistrates courts will go up in buses next month.

They were fined a total of £1,780 and ordered to pay costs totalling £1,600 after failing to pay their £35 spot fines when caught out by inspectors.

The purge on the dodgers began six months ago when drivers were asked to be extra vigilant about fares and report incidents when the correct fare was not paid or a pass was misused.

The company has prosecuted 75 people across West Yorkshire who have been fined a total of nearly £6,500.

Mr May today warned passengers: "If anyone has any concerns about not paying the correct fare then they should ask the driver to clarify the amount."

And he vosed that anyone found fare dodging would be penalised.

Bradford's spokesman on the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority Councillor Chris Greaves said: "Any failure to pay fares is a cost to all the rest of us.

"I think the lists will be a deterrent but the fine is meant to be an atonement so I would not want to see them displayed for too long."