Crime bosses higher up the food chain are “criminalising” young people in parts of Bradford by convincing them to be their drug couriers, a meeting has heard.

Children on bikes are often seen passing items to “older people in blacked out cars” – and councillors were told that community intelligence is vital to catching the “Mr Big” behind the drug gangs.

Councillors in the constituency of Bradford East were given an update on crime in their area at a meeting of the Bradford East area committee on Thursday evening.

Members heard that while overall crime in the area was down by 12 per cent from January to July this year, call outs to robberies were up 23 per cent and drug crime was up by 14 per cent.

At the meeting Inspector Paul Riley, of the Bradford East Neighbourhood Policing Team, said the rise in drug offences was partly down to an increased number of officers in the area tackling the issue.

More pro-active work was also being done, with a rise in drug raids carried out following tip offs from local communities.

But at the meeting, councillors raised concern at the amount of young people that seemed to be involved in drug dealing.

And others said many people were too afraid of criminal gangs to give information to the police.

Inspector Riley said: “We’re working in all six wards (in Bradford East) to tackle the drug supply. The impact of drugs across the constituency is significant.

“We’re really reliant on the public giving us information. If I put a uniformed officer on one street, I can guarantee the drug deals won’t be happening on that street, so to tackle the problem it needs to be intelligence lead. The more intelligence we get the more we do with it. The more I know about, the easier it is to bid for more resources in an area.”

He said work to tackle crime included assemblies with Year Six pupils in schools across the constituency – an attempt to give young people guidance on issues such as drug use and dealing and domestic abuse before they stray down the wrong path in life.

Councillor Brendan Stubbs (Lib Dem, Eccleshill) said he would often see young people on bikes who were obviously involved in the drug trade. He said: “One of the problems is it is under 18s who seem to be doing the ‘final kilometre’ of the drug deliveries.”

Councillor Brendan StubbsCouncillor Brendan Stubbs (Image: T&A)

Insp Riley said: “That is why we’re working with primary schools. The schools take this really seriously.

“We want to get to the people who are putting the kids on bikes to deal for them – the ones who are criminalising young people.

“We work with the community – that is how we identify the people at the top. We need to find out who it is that is criminalising these children.”

Another Eccleshill Councillor, Ian Parsons (Lab) said drug dealing was “pretty rife” and said it was common to see young people talking to “older people in blacked out cars.”

He added: “You can see youngsters on bikes passing whatever it is to other people. It is so rife – is it the case that you are not after the little people, you’re after Mr Big?”

Insp Riley said the aim was to find the main players, but this required community intelligence.

Committee members said that while drugs have different classifications, they can all have a serious impact on users.

Chair of the committee Cllr Taj Salam (Independent, Little Horton) said: “A lot of kids won’t start on crack straight away. You see kids sailing past in cars with balloons in their mouths. The effect laughing gas has on the brain long term is unbelievable.”

He said there seemed to be an “acceptance” of soft drugs in parts of Bradford, adding: “The amount of people abusing soft drugs openly is unbelievable. I saw someone putting together a spliff in the street the other day.”

Councillor Rizwana Jamil (Lab, Bowling and Barkerend) said: “I still think there is a problem in reporting. I know in my ward people know what is going on, and people know who is doing it. But they won’t report because of the fear of repercussions.

“People think the criminals will somehow find out who told the police.”

Insp Riley said: “The issue is having confidence you can give us information without there being repercussions. It is about building up trust.

“If more people give information to the police and nothing bad happens in response then they will have the confidence to do it again.”