PLANS for a waste tyre disposal site in a Bradford neighbourhood have been branded a fire risk by a worried resident.

The firm Jacks Tyres has applied for partly-retrospective permission to use part of the former tram shed site in Leeds Road, Thornbury, for a tyre disposal business.

But one person living nearby has voiced fears a "tyre dump" could be a major fire hazard, saying she would have to move if council planners approved the scheme.

Joolz Denby said the business would be completely unsuitable for a residential area.

She said heaps of tyres could prove too tempting to arsonists or could catch alight in some other way, and once rubber started burning it was very difficult to stop.

She said: "The health issues involved in the toxic smoke, and the life quality of having a massive, unstoppable fire 20 yards away from your front door, is just unthinkable."

Dr Denby said she had lived in her house for 36 years and loved the area.

She said: "I'm now 60 - that means my whole adult life has been lived in this house, but I will have to leave, because I can't live next door to that."

Jacks Tyres already operates on the site, working hand-in-hand with tyre fitters Zee Tyres, which already has planning permission.

But under the plans, the business would be developed by creating a 18m by 32m compound, which would have its own steel fencing and would store up to 10 tonnes of used tyres.

These used tyres would be tied into bales on-site, collected regularly by an articulated lorry and shipped out.

Zee Tyres' Zee Hussain, speaking on behalf of both firms, said they had already obtained the relevant environmental licence to carry out the work on the site, and operated under environmental permitting regulations.

He said: "We have had all the safety examinations. We are all above-board with that."

Mr Hussain disputed the claim the business was a fire risk, saying more of a concern was the fly-tipping happening on other areas of the site that he had reported to his landlord.

He said: "We are helping the environment, and also creating jobs. We have got five people employed."

The application will be considered by planners in the coming months.

Ward councillor, Mohammed Shafiq (Lab, Bradford Moor) said no objectors had yet contacted him about the application, but urged anyone with views, either for or against the plan, to submit them to the planners for consideration.

The site of the now-demolished tram sheds also houses a car sales pitch, which last month applied for planning permission retrospectively. This application is currently open for public comments.

Other parts of the site are used for a car park and hand car wash.