A Normandy veteran is fighting a battle for peace on the doorstep of his own home.

In 1944, Stanley Teale fought alongside thousands of Allied troops in the D-Day Landings in France.

The landings changed the course of World War Two but now the 78-year-old war veteran has got a new enemy in his sights.

For more than a week, a gang of youths has been scaling scaffolding on the side of his house in Holme Wood Road, Holme Wood, and climbing on his roof keeping him awake at night.

The youths, some thought to be as young as four, ignore Mr Teale's pleas to come down and have made his life a misery.

And the father-of-four and granddad who has lived in the house for 32 years, said both the police and Bradford Council which put up the scaffolding have ignored his pleas for help.

He said: "As soon as that scaffolding was put up the kids were on it like monkeys. In my generation you could point a finger at somebody who was misbehaving and that was enough. I blame the parents.

"When I tell them to come down they tell me to get lost. If you put your hands on these kids then you're assaulting them. The do-gooders have ruined this country.

"I was in the Durham Light Infantry and fought in the war but what for? It's worse now than it was then."

Mr Teale, who has suffered three heart attacks, said he went to Bradford City Hall last week and was told the scaffolding would have to remain for another two weeks.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm very pleased that the Council are repairing the roofs around here but there must be some way of securing the scaffolding at night," he said.

A Bradford Council technical services spokesman said staff from the Holme Wood Neighbourhood Housing Office had spoken to a number of young people and written to their parents about the matter.

"Contractors remove the ladders at the end of each working day but it is not possible to remove the scaffolding," said the spokesman.

"Everything feasible is being done to make this site as secure as possible at nights and we would urge young people not to enter any building sites as they are potentially dangerous."

Inspector Dave Hodgson, of Odsal police, said he was aware of the situation and officers from the community safety action team were patrolling the area regularly and would act if anybody broke the law.