A Bradford estate with a reputation for being a hotbed of crime saw only two homes burgled last month, figures released by police reveal today.

The impressive statistics, which show a 96 per cent drop in burglaries in 10 months, highlight the effective work on the Ravenscliffe estate by the police and the community.

Eccleshill divisional commander Superintendent David Collins said one of the reasons the police have been able to cut crime was because of an improvement in the relationship between officers and the residents.

"We have been working with the community to try to improve crime prevention," he said.

"There is a proactive team working on intelligence and information.

"More people are coming forward with information because they have greater confidence and know we will do something."

Supt Collins said that another reason for the improvement was the move back to community policing. The police had introduced "high visibility presence on the estate".

In October last year 54 burglaries were reported by householders on the estate. Last month the figure was down to only two.

Car crime has been cut from 22 to eight, a drop of 64 per cent.

Supt Collins said: "My hope now is that this trend will continue when the evenings begin to get darker."

The incidence of violent crime, however, has remained constant, which is in line with other areas.

Dominic Sheeran, chairman of the Ravenscliffe and Greengates Association, said: "Ravenscliffe suffers greatly from being stigmatised.

"These figures show that active policing does work and dramatic results have been achieved.

Mr Sheeran added: "We have been extremely pleased with the current level of policing and the fresh approach to policing on the estate.

He said there was still work to be done, such as the regeneration of the area. "But things have started moving quite dramatically."

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