A Bradford police station has become the first in the country to become a nationally-recognised "doorstaff college".

Workers from the city's pubs and clubs attend training courses at the Tyrls - headquarters for the Bradford South division - to hone the skills and techniques vital for their front line job.

The project builds on the success of the Bradford Doorstaff Registration Scheme which has helped cut violence dramatically at entertainment outlets.

Now, the training scheme has won the backing of the British Institute of Inkeepers, awarding its new graduates the Door Supervisors National Certificate Stage One.

The registration scheme was launched in 1991 through a partnership of Bradford Police, the Bradford Inner City Licensees Association and Bradford Council. All staff working at venues with public entertainment licences must register with the scheme - now 900 between Bradford, Keighley and Halifax. Training includes drug awareness, dealing with potentially violent situations, fire safety, contingency planning, powers of arrest and codes of conduct.

Sergeant Chris Plowman, from Bradford South Police, said: "Since the training started in 1991, doorstaff-related violence has reduced by 90 per cent which means far fewer people are injured in pubs or clubs in the city centre."

This equated to 400 fewer reported serious woundings between 1992 and 1997 compared to the five years before.

Sgt Plowman said less serious assaults would have fallen even more, adding: "The fact that we were immediately given national accreditation proves that we have been doing things right over recent years."

The training and accreditation has been subsidised by the Bradford Council Crime Reduction Fund.

Doorstaff training co-ordinator Annaliese Oldham said: "Well trained doorstaff are vital.

"When an incident takes place at a pub or club, the doorstaff often act as our mediators. They handle the situation until the police arrive and, unless they preserve the evidence, it can often be destroyed."

George Clark, one of the first to graduate from the scheme, said: "I have been working on doors for 20 years, but there were still things to learn on the course."

He said registration schemes helped to clear out "rogue" doorstaff who gave the profession a bad name and dispel the myth that door workers were aggressive, rude or violent.