Nearly half the hooligan attacks on firefighters in West Yorkshire are committed against crews in the Bradford district, according to new statistics.

A report before Friday’s meeting of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority revealed there had been 36 incidents of violence against firefighters in the district in the past 11 months from a county-wide total of 76.

Crews at the main Bradford station, in Leeds Road, have been targeted 21 times, including several incidents where missiles, fireworks and stones were thrown. They also encountered aggressive behaviour, verbal abuse and racist abuse. Crews in other parts of the district also experienced confrontation, with a firework being thrown at a crew from Shipley and missiles being hurled at Keighley firefighters.

In comparison, fire crews across the Leeds district suffered a total of 14 attacks in the 11-month period, while there were 12 in Calderdale and seven in Kirklees, including two missile-throwing incidents in Cleckheaton.

The report said the total of 76 incidents of violence across West Yorkshire represented a reduction of 35 per cent on the number reported for 2008/9.

Despite the relatively high number of incidents in Bradford, the report pointed towards work that had taken place to reduce the problem, including positive engagement between firefighters and the local community.

A recent three-month period without any attacks on Bradford firefighters provided further reason for optimism.

The report said: “There was a significant reduction in the number of attacks towards the end of the year and there were actually no attacks during December 2009. Work continues within a number of schools where individuals and target years have received joint-awareness training from the Bradford Arson Task Force and neighbourhood policing teams.

“An excellent start has been made to 2010 with no attacks reported for January and February. However, bad weather almost certainly played a part, so it’s important not to be too complacent.”

Kirklees Councillor David Ridgway, chairman of West Yorkshire Fire Authority, said: “Predominantly, the work that our community engagement officers do is paying dividends in that it’s opening up the minds of those people that might be persuaded to commit this sort of act while giving them cause for thought.”

In terms of actions to address violence, the report said personnel had continued to communicate with youths in the BD3 area and had held a community fun day at Bradford Fire Station.