An independent survey has named and shamed two areas of Bradford as among the worst burglary blackspots in the country. But police have reacted angrily to the survey saying burglars in Bradford are being kept at bay. Ian Midgley reports.

RETURNING HOME to find your property broken into and possessions ransacked is a horrific ordeal.

Many people are left fearful and traumatised long after the event, never again feeling comfortable in

their own homes.

And according to a new consumer survey released this week people living in the BD7 and BD8 areas of Bradford will have to go through this ordeal more than almost anyone else in the country.

The BD7 1 post code which covers 112 streets in Great Horton, and the BD8 7 postcode which includes 85 streets in the Manningham and Girlington areas, were named as two of the top five worst areas in the country for burglaries in a report compiled by consumer research company Experian.

The Nottingham-based company talked to 40,000 people across the UK about their views of crime in the areas where they live.

But for some of those living in the blacklisted areas, the survey's results are nothing new. Some say that being burgled is a way of life.

One Pemberton Drive resident, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, said he had to install iron bars across his door windows, costing £3,000, to keep the burglars at bay.

The man, who came to Bradford in 1976 to study at the University, said: "I've been burgled three times in the last three years. They've broken in my cellar window, in my kitchen window, while I was out, while I was in bed. They've taken my TV, video, jacket, my watch and jewellery. They've had everything.

"In the end I had to put all the bars up. I feel like a prisoner in my own home but what can you do?"

And in the largely student populated area around Bradford University many seemed resigned to having property stolen.

Third-year Bradford University media student Paul Maynard, 20, from Brentwood, in Essex, said: "It's worse here than anywhere I have lived before. We were broken into last year. A man got in through the bathroom window but a girl I was living with disturbed him and he ran off.

"I know a quite few people who have been burgled - they had all their stuff totally cleared out.

"It must be pretty bad around here because the insurance rate is one of the most expensive in the country."

Another student Andy Kominski, 20, of Rand Street, in BD 7, said that many students found it impossible to find affordable insurance because of the areas reputation.

He said: "It's not as bad as it is supposed to be around here but getting insurance as a student in BD 7 is very expensive and a lot of people just can't afford it.

"I know lots of people who don't have any insurance at all.

"It's quite a susceptible area to burglary because for a lot of the time there isn't anybody around.

"It's impossible to take all your stuff home with you and it's left in empty houses. It's easy pickings."

Pensioner Maria Wojtkow, has lived in Pemberton Drive, in BD7, for 42 years and thankfully has only been burgled once.

She said: "We were burgled about two years ago on Sunday morning while we were at church. They broke in the front window in broad daylight.

"You do hear about houses getting burgled, the man down the road has been burgled quite a few times in the last few years.

"The area is getting worse - I think it's probably the young kids who don't have jobs and have nothing to do who go out burgling."

But like many BD7 and BD8 residents one Girlington home owner said that she did not know anyone who had been the victim of burglars.

Corinne Moore, 36, an order entry clerk at Grattan, said: "I've been living in Girlington for 16 years and I've never had a problem. I don't think that this report gives a truthful picture. I've always found it all right around here."

And police have hit back at the survey saying that the figures simply do not show that Bradford is a burglary blackspot.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Sedgwick, of Toller police who cover the BD8 and part of the BD7 postal areas says, the survey is misleading and that burglaries in Bradford have taken a major downturn in recent years.

He said: "If you look at the facts it just doesn't bear it out. I don't accept the evidence because it is probably all anecdotal.

"I'm not saying that it's perfect but in Toller Lane division we have less than two burglaries a day on average - we're not being swamped.

"If you look at the figures for last year we reduced burglaries in Bradford by 2,100 offences. We reduced the number of burglaries in Toller Lane by 565 last year. That's 565 less crimes. We've arrested more people than ever before.

"We're winning the war against burglars. It's never been so tough for them.

"This survey's just not true. It's reinforcing negative stereotypes of Bradford."

And Detective Inspector Gary Bates, of Odsal Police, also said that burglars were on the run in BD7.

He said: "We have seen a tremendous drop in burglaries in the Odsal division over the last two or three years.

"It is not a no-go area. I would tell people in the area that they can have confidence that we are tackling the problem. There's no need to feel like prisoners in their own homes."

Det Insp Bates said that the danger of the Experian survey is that it could help reinforce stereotypes that an area was vulnerable to crime.

He said: "It is useful that people know what's going on in their areas but it is important to get the balance right and not get too alarmist about it. We are keen to know what people's perceptions are and if they feel their area has a particular problem."

Det Insp Bates said that Odsal Police had undertaken a number of crime-cutting initiatives to beat the burglars in recent years.

As well as high visibility street patrols and bail checks on burglars released from jail, Det Insp Bates said that police were also targeting known burglars and reacting to crime "hot-spots" where clusters of one particular crime had suddenly sprung-up in the area.

He said: "If any particular area was experiencing an increase in any crime we would react to that immediately but at the moment we are not having a particular problem with burglary in that area. We do not have a burglary hot spot there."

'I would protect my home'

As farmer Tony Martin contemplates a life sentence for murdering the 16-year-old burglar who broke into his Norfolk home residents of Bradford's two blacklisted areas said it was time for the law to be changed.

With Tory leader William Hague pressing for reforms to the law that convicted Martin for shooting the intruder to his home the T&A asked residents if they would back a change.

Pensioner Maria Wojtkow, pictured right, who lives in the BD7 area, said: "I don't blame him for shooting the burglar, if I had a gun I would've shot him as well.

"When you have a burglar break-in in the middle of the night you must be terrified. We must have some laws to protect us or at least make the burglars afraid."

Michelle Carter, 23, of Girlington, said: "There should be a law that lets you look after what's yours - both your family and property. I would have done exactly the same thing if a burglar came into my house in the middle of the night. The wrong person's been sent down - it was the burglar who was in the wrong in the first place. I think they need to bring in new laws."

Student Andy Kominski, 20, of Rand Street, said: "At the end of the day it must have been very scary for the farmer. I don't think he should have been charged with murder. If you are a burglar you shouldn't have full rights."

And Lynn Hunter, 37, of Girlington, said: "I've got an iron bar under my bed. Anybody who comes into my house in the middle of the night is going to get that. I think we should definitely have laws to protect the home owners. It's gone too far the other way."

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