A Bradford milkman today told how he turned neighbourhood crimebuster, chasing thieves and tipping off police about offenders.

Sean Garvey, pictured, said in his three years delivering to the Calverley, Greengates and Apperley Bridge areas, he had witnessed crime becoming more and more frequent.

"I would say I call the police around three times a week when I see something suspicious," said the 32-year-old dad.

"Like all milkmen who are out and about in the early mornings, I always spot people who look suspicious or notice when something isn't right."

And while he often calls the police to deal with the situation, Sean has tackled offenders himself.

"On one occasion in Calverley I spotted two men getting out of a car with no lights on."

After hopping over a couple of fences, he saw the men pulling balaclavas onto their heads.

"I picked up my crate of milk and hurled it at them and they sprinted away."

Police arrived at the scene minutes later and found a crowbar, hammer and screwdriver in nearby bushes.

"On another occasion I saw a young lad driving the car of one of my customers. I called the police and rushed round to his house. His back door had been forced but he was okay and was calling 999 himself."

Sean chased a thief after seeing him break into a car. And after spotting items belonging to another customer, he rushed round to alert him to the break-in.

"One night I became suspicious of two men driving around the area slowly in the early hours. I called the police who were there very quickly," said Sean.

"The men ran off but they were caught by the police. I pointed out the car to them and it was full of Yorkshire stone flags."

And when Sean chased one suspect at the back of a customer's house, the man eventually jumped into the Leeds to Liverpool canal to escape.

"Crime is certainly getting worse in my experience.

"The criminals are just shameless - they will go out and steal at anytime of the night or day," said Sean.

"I might go for two months without seeing a thing but then I could be calling the police three times in a night.

"I have the mobile numbers of other milkmen and we tip each other off if we think that someone suspicious is coming into each others' areas."

He said: "I think one of the real problems is that there doesn't seem to be any sense of community any more. No one looks out for anyone else."

As more households bought their morning pint from the supermarket and there were fewer milkmen, the less protection there was for people's homes, he said.

"People forget that milkmen act as effectively as a patrol at night and that if we disappeared, crime would definitely go up."

A police spokesman said: "We value our partnership with the local communities and rely on them to help is in the fight against crime by giving information.

"Local residents are our eyes and ears and we would encourage them to continue to contact us with information about those suspected of committing crimes so when appropriate we can take action."