West Yorkshire Police has said it was not invited to take part in a documentary series looking into the aftermath of the shooting of Yassar Yaqub.

Hometown: A Killing is a new BBC documentary which started last night and explores issues around the death of Yassar Yaqub at the Ainley Top junction of the M62 in January 2017.

It looks into the drugs trade in West Yorkshire and the gang landscape in the county, and what efforts are being made in different communities to tackle the problem of drug dealing.

Yaqub was on his way back to Huddersfield after meeting "notorious gangster" Meggy - Mohammed Nisar Khan - in Bradford, when he was surrounded by police, before being shot dead by an officer.

An IOPC investigation into the incident is ongoing, but at the court case of Yaqub’s accomplices the police officer who shot him gave evidence that Yaqub had pointed a gun at him first.

The documentary makes the claim that Yaqub's death, coupled with the jailing of Meggy for the unrelated murder of Amriz 'Major' Iqbal, could spark a new drugs war in West Yorkshire.

But West Yorkshire Police has said it had not been invited to take part in the programme or respond to any issues raised.

In a statement, it said drugs are not a problem specific to the county, and it is actively working to tackle the problem, and to try and stop young people being drawn into criminality.

It said: “West Yorkshire, like all other areas of the country, has people who are addicted to drugs including heroin and opiates.

“These drugs can have a terrible impact on the user and the wider society and we are doing all we can with partners to tackle these problems. 

“We cannot deal with these problems in isolation and as a force we do not hold statistics on drugs deaths in West Yorkshire – although we are aware of a rise nationally of such incidents. One death, however, is one too many. 

“We are very much aware of the so-called national phenomenon of ‘county lines crime’ in which organised criminal networks are involved in exporting illegal drugs into one or more importing areas. 

“These organised criminal networks will often look to use young people to do their ‘dirty work’ and will use weapons and the threat of violence. County lines is not a crime restricted to West Yorkshire – it is a nationwide issue. 

“We are aware of it and are carrying out enforcement and prevention work to tackle it. This included a recent operation with colleagues from Lancashire Constabulary to arrest 11 people (largely from West Yorkshire) on suspicion of drugs related activity.

“We know the criminal exploitation of children is increasingly problematic nationally, we are working hard locally and across the Force to safeguard young people from all forms of exploitation.”

The documentary also shows prominent figures from Bradford’s Pakistani community having a meeting discussing how to address the problem.

Involved in the meeting are imams and community leaders, who all acknowledge there is a problem in the Asian community and look at ways they can try to tackle it.

One said: “We have a problem, a big problem, and we need to do something about it.”

Another said: “Police cannot be everywhere, we as a community need to take action and work together and get more people involved.”

A third shared a story of a mother who visited him in tears, because her child, aged just 11, had been approached by drug dealers trying to get him involved in dealing.