THE number of offences involving firearms in England and Wales has been increasing each year since 1997, according to the Home Office.

Firearms incidents recorded by the police have nearly trebled in eight years.

Provisional figures released last month showed that firearms offences had increased by 5 per cent on last year, to a total of 11,160. There were 4,903 such offences in 1997.

The possession of handguns was banned in Britain that year after the Dunblane massacre. Yet the illegal ownership of handguns is believed to be higher than it has ever been, with nearly 300,000 illegal guns estimated to be in circulation.

The increase in gun crime is linked to gang activity and the illegal drugs trade.

But Chris Fox, the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers, said: “This year has seen a fall in the number of fatalities from 70 to 60, with the use of shotguns down by 13 per cent and the use of handguns down by 8 per cent.

“The 5 per cent rise in gun crime overall reflects a rise in the use of imitation firearms of 28 per cent.”

Yesterday’s gun incident comes less than three years after another fatal shooting at a travel agent in Bradford. Tasawar Hussain, 36, was shot dead in 2003 as he tried to help the police to halt an armed robbery.

Last night the police emphasised that Bradford was not generally a bad area for gun crime. A spokeswoman said: “The city is not particularly known as an area where gun crime is rife. It is surprising to hear of a homicide shooting in Bradford.”

Robbery and violent crime involving firearms represented a very small proportion of total crime in West Yorkshire, she said, accounting for just under 500 incidents a year. The force deals with about 1,900 crimes each year involving firearms, with the majority of them being criminal damage caused by air rifles.

West Yorkshire Police has 104 firearms officers, highly trained specialists who respond to incidents where firearms have been reported or are likely to be involved.

More officers are being trained to deal with gun crime, a spokesman said. Police in the region deal with more than 700,000 incidents a year.

Of those, firearms officers were sent to only 1,064 last year.

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