COUNCIL wardens have been subjected to more than 450 attacks in the last three years, coming under fire three times a week on average.

In total the district's civil enforcement officers, whose job it is to enforce parking restrictions and hand out fines to motorists flouting the rules, have suffered 415 verbal attacks since January 2012, as well as a total of 41 physical assaults.

This has led to a cost to Bradford Council of almost £12,800 in staff absence and £600 in investigation costs, which covers the amount of time that Council wardens have been involved in giving statements and attending court.

The information has been obtained by the Telegraph & Argus under Freedom of Information legislation and covers the period from January 2012 to the beginning of December 2014.

Ian Day, Bradford Council's interim assistant director for neighbourhoods and customer service, has warned those who attack wardens could face prosecution through the courts.

He said: “Any kind of attack, either verbal or physical, on a Council Warden is utterly disgraceful.

“Council wardens play a major role in trying to keep the district clean and safe, while helping the community in so many ways.

“Everyone has the right to come into work each day without having to worry whether they will face hostility and violence for simply doing their job properly.

“We will do everything we can to protect them, including prosecuting people where necessary if they can’t treat wardens with the respect and courtesy they deserve.”

No detail as to the nature of the attacks has been released, but in 2012 an incident log obtained by the T&A highlighted examples where wardens were hit by a vehicle or had a car driven at them.

In other incidents, wardens had been spat at, grabbed by the throat, had things such as drinks, eggs, bottles or shoes thrown at them, or been slapped, pushed, or grabbed. In some instances motorists have tried to snatch the camera wardens use to capture evidence out of their hands.

Bradford Council took over responsibility for parking enforcement in March 2009, and in January 2012, the work of the 40 parking officers was merged with the 40 neighbourhood wardens and 15 park rangers, bringing up to 95 uniformed officers together in one unit.

The team of Council wardens can issue fines to motorists flouting rules as well as to people littering and allowing their dogs to foul in public.

Once a ticket has been issued, wardens do not have the authority to take it back so anyone wanting to dispute a parking ticket, should go through the appeal process.