A Bradford criminal lawyer has criticised the Crown Prosecution Service for "appalling" delays in bringing cases to trial in local courts.

The CPS today admitted that it had been forced to adjourn criminal cases this year because of a shortage of lawyers.

Its admission comes after solicitor Nicholas Leadbeater claimed the majority of pre-trial review hearings held in Bradford courts could not go ahead because essential paperwork was not ready.

He said the delays were causing serious concern among his solicitor colleagues.

West Yorkshire Police Federation's chairman Tom McGhie said police officers were also concerned that Bradford cases were regularly being transferred out of the district after delays in Bradford.

Mr Leadbeater has also accused the CPS of misleading magistrates in a case involving two 15-year-old boys accused of taking a vehicle without consent after the papers failed to arrive for two consecutive hearings.

The case is the latest in a series of delays where charges have been dismissed or hearings postponed because papers have not been prepared for the courts.

Earlier this month charges of illegally importing weapons against Thomas Craddock had to be dropped because the CPS did not have its papers ready.

Craddock, 21, of Undercliffe, had faced 15 charges of importing 23 stun guns, three hand guns, five cans of pepper spray, a magazine tube and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition.

The prosecutor in Bradford Magistrates Court said he did not know why the papers were not ready.

But Neil Franklin, West Yorkshire's Chief Criminal Prosecutor, has now revealed it was because Customs and Excise, which was jointly involved in the prosecution, had destroyed the evidence.

He said: "When the CPS received the full case file from the HM Customs & Excise and the police it was clear that physical evidence vital to the case had been destroyed, which meant there was insufficient evidence to support the original charges.

"Because this evidence had been destroyed by Customs, the original charges would also have failed.

"However, we have instigated a further set of charges relating to attempting to import - for which there is sufficient evidence."

In the case of the two 15-year-old boys at Bingley Youth Court, Mr Leadbeater called for the offence against his clients to be dismissed because the statements which the prosecution's case was based on had not been supplied to him or to the court.

On March 11, a pre-trial review was adjourned because the papers were not ready and Mr Leadbeater complained a week later after the CPS papers again failed to arrive.

Prosecutor Joanna Butler Savage told the court that the papers had been sent to the court but she did not know why they had not arrived.

Mr Leadbeater told the court: "I do not believe the papers ever left the CPS office.

"We were told last week that these papers were posted on March 9. I know the Royal Mail has got its problems but I do not believe that three sets of papers to three different people could all have gone missing. What are the chances? I respectfully submit that the papers never left the office. The court last week was misled and this week the court has been misled again through no fault of my colleague."

The case was adjourned until next month for another pre-trial review.

Mr Leadbeater, of solicitors McManus Seddon, in Hustlergate, Bradford, said solicitors were becoming frustrated by the delays in trial cases.

He said: "The conduct of the Crown Prosecution Service is becoming appalling, few court directions are being complied with and I am struggling to recall the last pre-trial review where we have received the papers before the hearing. Just what is going on?"

Mr Franklin admitted there had been delays in cases in Bradford North division and Keighley because the CPS had faced staff shortages.

He said the CPS Bradford North office had been three lawyers short during November and December which had caused a backlog of work at the beginning of the year.

However he said the office was now "back up to establishment" with ten trained solicitors working on cases and he said the office was now up to date with the paperwork for pre-trial review hearings.

He has also refuted claims that the CPS had been misleading the court over missing papers and said he was sure the documents had been sent to both Mr Leadbeater and the court because paperwork in the office had been signed to indicate this.

Mr McGhie, of the Police Federation said: "Cases not going ahead has been a concern for a number of years across West Yorkshire but in Bradford we have had concerns recently that cases are being heard in Halifax which means witnesses have to travel and cases are heard outside the area where the offence took place."

Last year, Government inspectors raised concerns over the high number of instances where West Yorkshire Crown Prosecutions Service decided to drop proceedings. The 19.6 per cent rate of cases dropped was high compared with a national average of 12.7 per cent.

The service handles more than 75,000 cases each year across the region.