Businesses are rallying round to help a major crime prevention project as part of a scheme encouraging them to become more involved in the community.

A property-marking project being run by West Yorkshire Police is just one of the challenges which Bradford Cares is trying to get businesses involved in as part of its June Action Days.

Some companies have already said they will put together teams of volunteers to work on specific projects but Bradford Cares also has a list of other groups who need help and it is hoping more businesses in the district will get involved in the Action Days.

Organisations looking for help include primary schools, community centres and community garden projects and volunteers are needed for a range of tasks, from clean-ups to painting and decorating, digging and planting.

The property mark-up project is part of a three-year police scheme to mark valuables in 6,000 homes in Bradford North, Bradford South and Keighley. Volunteers will mark up to five items of valuable property in each home in the areas which have suffered from high burglary rates.

Since the project started five months ago, property has been marked in 700 homes. No marked items have been stolen and only two homes have had break-ins.

Bradford Cares is also hoping to get executives and their staff involved in a clean-up project on the Holme Wood estate on May 15. Residents will be working alongside business volunteers to clear litter and improve gardens for pensioners and disabled people .

Since Bradford Cares was set up in 2001, more than 600 employees from companies across the district, including the Inland Revenue, Bradford College, Hallmark, Yorkshire Water, Yorkshire Building Society and the Telegraph & Argus, have volunteered to help community projects.

A spokesman for Bradford Cares said: "We are striving to work with more and more community organisations and can only do this with the support of local businesses."

Contact Celia De Maria or Kathryn Jones on on (0113) 205 8200.