BUSINESSES based at a Shipley site say the area has been plagued by crime and anti-social behaviour, with regular “drug dealing, drug taking and soliciting.” And one business says it the issue has got so bad that it has instructed staff to lock themselves in the building when working late at night. The concerns were raised in a planning application to make the site - Hirst Wood Works, more secure. The application, by John Brooksbank, was to install an 2.4 metre high automated entrance gate and fencing to the business site, off Hirst Wood Road, to control who is able to gain access.
Signs advising people to keep socially distant in Shipley. THE past year has been the most difficult for policing in decades - according to the head of Shipley’s local policing team. An annual report by the Shipley Neighbourhood Policing Team details how officers have had to deal with new issues that have arisen from the Covid-19 pandemic - from preventing crowds gathering at beauty spots during lockdown to criminals targeting shops that have been forced to shut. Inspector Craig Stothers, who heads up the team, says the past year has been “the most challenging year I have experienced in 26 years of Police service.”
1/1 POLICE have arrested a man after discovering a £1 million cannabis farm by using a thermal camera. The farm was found by officers in a property in Hall Royd, Shipley, yesterday, at around 4pm. There were roughly 500 cannabis plants in the building, spread across two floors and six rooms. It is estimated altogether they are worth more than £1 million in street value. A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said a 33-year-old male, from Bradford, was arrested and remains in custody at this time. Officers are still examining the premises and dismantling the farm. Enquiries are ongoing. The cannabis farm was initially discovered after PCSO Verdeyen scanned the property with a thermal imaging camera.
A BRADFORD primary school is looking to install CCTV and police have upped patrols amid fears of suspected drug taking and dealing in the area. Small plastic bags have been appearing outside the grounds of St Walburga s Catholic Primary School on a regular basis in recent weeks, according to a concerned parent. The parent, who wished to remain anonymous, said there are always one or two bags lying around on the roads by the school and claims they are drug paraphernalia. They took a photo of three small bags on January 7 and shared the image on social media website, Twitter, raising the issue with Bradford Council and the police.