Low burglary detection figures revealed in a new report from local Neighbourhood Policing Teams have sparked concern among councillors on Shipley Area Committee.

Clear-up rates for Bingley and Worth, Shipley, Wharfedale and Craven are way below the national average and only a third as good as detections across West Yorkshire as a whole.

Official Home Office statistics for 2012 set a national detection rate of 13.3 per cent of all burglaries.

Force-wide figures for West Yorkshire produced a detection rate of 17.8 of all dwelling burglaries for the year up until October 2013.

But in Bingley and Worth where there were 169 house burglaries in the year until October – a rise of 72 on the previous year – the detection rate was only five per cent of the total incidents.

Shipley had an increase of 12 such crimes to 181, while the Wharfedale and Craven area had a spike of more than 100 per cent as burglaries rose from 43 to 95 during the same time span.

Detection rates in both those areas was just six per cent, according to figures within a report to be delivered to Shipley Area Committee this evening.

Bingley Rural district councillor Simon Cooke is on the Shipley Area Committee and said serious questions had to be asked.

“Across Bradford district there are real concerns about detection rates,” he said. “It’s a question of paying attention to the needs of these areas.

“Because they are relatively low- crime areas, I don’t think police give detection the same importance.

“In general terms we’ve had less policing as years go by and if they are not catching criminals, how can they get close to eliminating crime?”

Fellow committee member Council Val Townend said she would also call for explanations: “Obviously we should be online with the national average. Why are these figures so low?”

Insp Hugh Robinson said in his report that now officers will visit 40 addresses surrounding any burgled houses and that intelligence gathering had been greatly improved.

“Allied to this is the increasing work being done with offenders to prevent re-offending,” he said.