Fight to save city kids from drug slavery
A CITY is to tackle a new criminal menace to its children with a £2.5million fighting fund.
Nearly 500 youngsters in Bradford, West Yorks, have been virtually enslaved by 51 local drug gangs.
Crime bosses force them to work on cannabis farms, or transport drugs using a phone command system called “county lines”.
The city has now won £1million of Home Office cash to boost its £1.5million safeguarding budget.
This will finance a fouryear project to teach 10- to 14-year-olds how to avoid being “groomed” into crime-gang slavery.
Adrian Farley of Bradford Council said criminal exploitation of children “should have no place in our society and we’re determined to tackle it”.