PCSO slammed for 'people were eating cats' comment on BBC's Bradford On Duty

In last night's episode of BBC Two show Bradford On Duty, PCSO Tom Greenwood said builders had committed the crime in a block of derelict Manningham flats.

He labelled the Oak Villas area as 'death row' before stumbling upon the former housing with colleague Wokciech Drop.

READ: Review of Bradford On Duty episode two

As he was about to go in, Tom said: "Locals are complaining because their cats are going missing.

"A while ago, we found that builders were living in this derelict building and eating the cats. That is not a joke, they were actually eating the cats."

"You don't come here for fine dining," he added after surveying the damning sight of sleeping bags and overgrown weeds in the grotesque location.

Katie Lloyd, who founded Bradford Cat Watch Rescue, has never heard of such a thing happening and feels Tom's comments were sensationalist.

She said: "I watched the show last night and thought he was being quite naughty.

"I or our volunteers know nothing about it.

Katie Lloyd could not believe what the PCSO said.

"We would have heard something if this was the case, we are usually the first port of call for the police and Council.

"Animal cruelty in Bradford is shocking, but I don't think comments like that make it any better.

"I personally think it was scaremongering, let's make Bradford worse."

Manningham Ward councillors Shabir Hussain and Sarfraz Nazir agreed 

"Those comments seem far-fetched, said Cllr Nazir.

Councillor Sarfraz Nazir has never heard anything like it in his ward.

"There are some derelict buildings there but, in terms of people eating animals in there, that is just absurd."

Cllr Hussain added: "I was shocked when I heard this. Sometimes I pass there and I have never seen anything out of the ordinary."

Councillor Shabir Hussain was also shocked by the comment.

Bradford West MP Naz Shah (Labour) focussed more on the homelessness element of the problem and called out the Government for causing this. 

She said: "While, on one hand, this makes a sensationalised story and we must ensure animal rights across Bradford are protected, the fact that we hear of homeless people living in these derelict areas, having to resort to people's bins or extreme circumstances is a damning indictment of this government.

MP Naz Shah thinks homelessness is an issue that the Government are not doing enough around. (Image: Google)

"Government slogans of levelling up are a farce when this is how people in local communities are surviving.”

Bradford Council and West Yorkshire Police have been approached for a comment.