THREE plaques to mark the route of Bradford's beck through the city centre have been laid and two have been carved for the next phase.

Members of Friends of Bradford's Becks (FOBB) are celebrating this first milestone of their project to place 15 pavement plaques throughout the city to line the hidden route of the waterway. Each one bears one line of a specially-written poem.

The first two Welsh blue stone plaques, numbers 12 and 14, which are in Charles Street and Lower Kirkgate, were created by sculptor Pat Walls and handed to Westfield, the developers of The Broadway shopping centre, to be installed.

Another plaque, number 13, was cast in bronze and installed in the East Mall of the new shopping centre, prior to its opening last month.

FOBB chairman Barney Lerner said that it would take a little longer that anticipated for the full trail to be installed, but it was expected to be completed by the summer.

"We are planning the grand launch for World Rivers Day, which is September 25, to make sure it is all ready.

"The Council is asking that we assemble the remaining plaques in batches when they are ready, so that they can be installed. It looks like the next batch will be installed in February."

The poem featured on the trail was picked following a public competition.

"We have now published an anthology of all the poems entered in the competition as part of the project. There are a total of 29 poems included in the book, which is called Beck, and we are having a launch party for that in January," Mr Lerner said.

Two more plaques have been carved by Mr Walls for location 11 on Bank Street and 15, on Lower Kirkgate.

One of the plaques was part of a £1,450 crowdfunding campaign and is dedicated to the memory of the 56 people who died in the Bradford City fire disaster 30 years ago.

Colin Fine, owner of the Bradford Playhouse and FOBB member, organised the funding bid, which raised just over £800.

He also raised another £70, and would make up the shortfall himself, ensuring the dedication went ahead.

The slabs will be placed in pavements between Thornton Road, by the Odeon building, right through to Lower Kirkgate, past The Midland Hotel.

Sponsors include Anchor Housing, Bradford Live, British Land, Bradford Cinderella Club, Feature Radiators, Grattan, Napoleons, Rimmingtons, SafeStyle, Westfield and Yorkshire Water.

People will be encouraged to follow the route to read the full verse which was written by Jane Callaghan, of Wilsden.