A Bradford housing estate is being used as a blueprint for beating crime across Europe.

Methods adopted on the Royds estate in Buttershaw have been so successful at cutting burglary and vandalism that they are to be presented to the European Union next month.

The architectural design of the estate has been changed over the years to make it difficult for offenders to commit and get away with their crimes.

PC Stephen Town, Bradford police architectural liaison officer, who masterminded the Secure By Design scheme in Bradford, said: "It's not complicated, all you need to do is deny the opportunity for crime and make it more difficult for criminals to gain access.

"When crime is made more difficult you get less of it, but when it's made easy you get huge amounts of it."

Changes made to the Royds estate, which in 1995 was named the worst area for burglary in Britain, included closing alleyways, erecting perimeter fencing and installing burglar-resistant windows and doors.

PC Town said: "Rear alleys, garage courts and unused public space behind dwellings were all removed to get people on to the streets where they could be seen."

Since Royds underwent its seven-year facelift, burglary has been practically eliminated from the estate.

"There has been no forced-entry burglary in Royds for five years now and there has been a 69 per cent reduction in burglary across the whole area," said PC Town.

"Despite what people think, research shows that crime doesn't just move elsewhere, it actually stops."

The design principles adopted in Royds are now paving the way for crime reduction in other parts of the country and across the globe.

The Bradford estate has become a national example of crime prevention and will feature in the Government's forthcoming Good Practice Guide.

PC Town has also just finished work on a publication due to be published by the EU Commission in January called Secure Urban Environment By Design.

He said: "We're taking Royds out of Royds and into national, and even global, practice."

Now improvements in Royds are to be rolled out across the district as PC Town has been seconded to work with Bradford Community Housing Trust (BCHT) to make changes to other areas.

Jez Lester, director of investment and regeneration for the BCHT group, said: "We have started a five-year £175 million improvement programme on homes across Bradford and an important part of that is making it as difficult as possible for thieves to cause problems.

"We plan to improve security across our estates by designing out crime opportunities wherever possible."

Starting with the replacement of windows and doors, the BCHT will work with PC Town to revamp environments and make changes to its properties.

PC Town added: "We're not trying to create fortresses. We're trying to create attractive environments for people to live in and feel safe.