Lives are being put at risk by a sharp rise in assaults on the district's firefighters a brigade chief warns.

The alert follows an air rifle attack on a fire crew in King's Road, Idle, on New Year's Eve.

Stephen Nunn, station commander at Idle and Shipley fire station, said: "It is horrendous that this happened.

"You have to bear in mind we have a large vehicle and if it had swerved we could have had a serious injury to the public or to my crew."

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service figures show 47 attacks in the region from the beginning of August to the end of October, compared with 16 in the previous period.

Five of them were in Bradford, nine in Fairweath-er Green, one in Keighley, two in Odsal and one in Shipley. In the previous period, there were five in Bradford, one in Fairweather Green, one in Keighley, two in Idle, one in Odsal, and none in Shipley.

Mr Nunn said shootings were very rare and fire crews were more likely to suffer verbal abuse.

He said: "There is no such thing as a 'no go' area but in certain extreme cases there are cul-de-sacs we will not drive down and reverse into.

"Ultimately these people are putting neighbours' lives at risk because the delay in time could result in loss of life."

Mr Nunn said the higher figures could be a result of a new reporting method. He said: "The new system uses a one-page spreadsheet rather than a four-page form that used to be filled in.

"This means we have figures on hand so we are aware of areas we are going into and other agencies can be made aware of the situation."

A fire service spokesman said measures were in place to protect officers, including cameras and the mobilisation of two engines to trouble spots so one crew could tackle the fire while the other acted as look-out.

The Idle shooting was one of a series of air rifle incidents there in recent weeks.

In the most serious, a 13-year-old-boy was shot in the head - also on King's Road and also on New Year's Eve.

He had a minor operation at Bradford Royal Infirmary to remove the pellet. Police are appealing for witnesses to both New Year's Eve attacks.

Detective Inspector Gerry O'Shea said: "These may be isolated incidents but they can cause serious injury and are taken extremely seriously.

"Offences involving airguns are always investigated thoroughly."