A FORMER Bradford binman has been jailed for 22 years for raping and sexually abusing young girls over a 20 year period.

Gordon Tidswell, 63, showed no emotion today as he was led to the cells at Bradford Crown Court after a jury convicted him of 21 offences, including rape, attempted rape and indecent assault.

Tidswell, who lived in the Wyke area of Bradford in the 1980s, had an address in Bridlington when he was arrested.

He abused four girls when they were aged between seven and 15, molesting them while giving piggy back rides and in his car.

He told one child he was "doing her a favour" after he raped her when she was aged 14 or 15.

Tidswell was found guilty after a lengthy trial of three offences of rape, two of attempted rape and 16 counts of indecent assault.

Prosecutor Jayne Beckett told the jury Tidswell was a persistent and predatory sexual abuser.

Today, she said: "All the complainants have been significantly affected by what happened to them at the hands of Gordon Tidswell."

Judge David Hatton QC ordered Tidswell to sign on the sex offenders' register for life and an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order bans him from any unsupervised contact with children.

One girl was so terrified after Tidswell abused her that she locked herself in a toilet to escape him.

Judge Hatton said the girls had been defiled and all were left permanently damaged.

"Each one of your victims suffered emotionally and psychologically. They continue to so suffer.

"You took advantage of their vulnerability without the slightest care and without the slightest remorse.

"You took away their innocence and joy of childhood for your perverted gratification," Judge Hatton said.

After the case, Detective Constable Simon Ridewood, of the Calderdale District Safeguarding Unit, said: "Tidswell took advantage of his victims' young ages and their vulnerability to carry out a series of sex attacks on them.

"We would like to thank them for their courage in coming forward and hope today's sentence will give them some closure, so they can move forward with their lives.

"We also hope it will encourage other victims to speak to our specially trained officers, who will investigate every report thoroughly and sensitively, with the aim of securing convictions against offenders."

Mrs Beckett said one of the alleged victims had made her first complaint to the police in 2008, but it was not followed through at the time and the police investigation only resumed in 2013.