Unemployment has soared by more than 17 per cent in a year in the Bradford district with Bradford West, at 25 per cent, suffering the steepest year-on-year rise of any UK Parliamentary constituency.

Dole queues across the district last month grew for the first time in three months to 19,898 from 19,614 in June. Of those 5,955 are people aged 18-24, latest figures show.

And the picture for young people is worsening dramatically with long-term youth unemployment among the 18 to 24s rocketing by 860 per cent since July last year.

The district’s rising unemployment is at odds with the national trend with overall figures falling by 46,000 to 2.56 million in the three months to June, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Bradford Council leader David Green last night pledged he will do everything he can to ensure another generation of young people are not forgotten.

While Bradford West MP George Galloway described the jobless rates in his constituency as “shameful” and demanded massive investment by the Government.

“Another month and another depressing and shameful number one for Bradford West,” Mr Galloway (Respect) said.

“For the third consecutive month at least my constituency shows the highest increase of any of the 650 constituencies in the country – a 25 per cent year-on-year increase.

“Youth unemployment has also soared by 22 per cent. This is a national scandal and a national disgrace.

“When will local politicians stop covering-up and pretending that they’re on top of things and it’s getting better? The figures don’t lie. Bradford is in danger of becoming a dead zone, a ghost town.

“The policies of this Government are destroying the fabric of our society. We need a massive investment in infrastructure and capital projects and we need to put money in people’s pockets. The only economic lever this despicable Coalition Government has employed is to make more and more people unemployed. Particularly the young.”

Councillor Green, who is also Labour group leader, blamed Government public sector cuts linked with the recession which he said have “really started to bite” not just in Bradford but across the whole of the country outside of London and the South East.

He said: “I will continue to argue that what we need to do is not just invest in skills and training to make sure people have the correct qualifications for the job but we need to be creating the jobs through the public sector or in partnership with the private sector.

“We cannot be in a situation where another generation is being left on the shelf because of Government policies. I am determined to make sure this is addressed. I lived through the last Tory government and people have not recovered from that. We will not let our young people be forgotten. What is happening at the moment is a national problem as well as a local one but it cannot go on, there needs to be a change of direction.”

Bradford South Labour MP Gerry Sutcliffe said the sharp increase was a mix of the recession and the loss of schemes helping young people find work.

He said: “We need long-term vacancies and opportunities for people in apprenticeships and to make sure people who are starting out in their life have aspirations and opportunities rather than everyone fighting for the same job. Government has to act to change things as long-term unemployment leads to long-term social problems.

“We need more positive schemes to boost employment and Labour’s Future Jobs Fund which was scrapped by the coalition was the way forward.”

Shipley Conservative MP Philip Davies added: “I have every sympathy with people who want to work and cannot find a job and no-one doubts how hard it is at the moment but equally there are some who do not want to work.

“There are some second or third generations of families who have never worked. The benefit system is making it better for people not to work in some cases and that is why we need reform and to make work pay.”

Mr Davies said his talks with companies had shown there were jobs available but many went to Polish workers as they wanted to work Government figures show unemployment in Yorkshire and the Humber increased by 25,000 to 266,000 in the three months to June. The region’s unemployment rate was 9.8 per cent and saw a rise of 10.4 per cent during the period.

Bill Adams, Yorkshire and Humber regional secretary of trades union umbrella body the TUC, warned of even tougher times ahead.

“Our region was the worst in the UK, recording a 25,000 increase in the number of people without a job, despite national unemployment figures falling to their lowest level for a year,” he said. “And this is just the tip of the iceberg, with part-time workers reaching a record national high of 8.07 million – 1.42 million of whom are working part-time because they cannot get full-time work. The highest figure since records began in 1992. “We desperately need a new economic strategy.”

But Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said the overall fall in unemployment was “positive and encouraging”.

He added: “The work we’re doing through the youth contract and through the work programme and through work experience should be supported by the trade unions and the Labour Party.”

Bradford East Lib Dem MP David Ward and Keighley Conservative MP Kris Hopkins were not available for comment.