Laughing gas drivers 'a massive problem' - council

Drivers inhaling nitrous oxide from balloons is a "massive problem" in parts of Bradford, councillors have heard.

A meeting of the council's Corporate Scrutiny Committee was also told that car parks in the district had become "hot spots" for the use of the substance, more commonly known as "laughing gas".

Abuse of the gas, which was classified as a Class C drug in 2023, criminalising its possession for recreational use, was becoming popular with young women too, the committee heard.

Councillor Sirferaz Saddiq, of the Bradford Independents Group, told the meeting some fatal car crashes in recent years had involved drivers inhaling nitrous oxide, and asked: "Are we doing anything about that?"

Labour councillor Nazam Azam, chair of the committee, said: "I could take you to two or three car parks an evening and you would see it openly used.

"I know there are a lot of pressures on police, but I was told that when it was made illegal, it would be clamped down on, but it hasn't."

Azam also said: "It is not only young men using these balloons, it is across the board. I often see young women driving with balloons."

Saddiq added: "It is a massive problem in my area."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Insp Nick Haigh, of West Yorkshire Police, told the meeting that while it was illegal to possess or distribute nitrous oxide to inhale, it was legal to possess it for some purposes, such as catering.

Labour councillor Kamran Hussain, executive for safer communities, said Bradford's Alcohol and Drugs Partnership was working "extremely hard" on the issue of laughing gas.

"We are letting people know the effect it is having on their health. We're telling young people the harm it can do them," he said.

Insp Haigh agreed that it was also a "priority" for the police.

As part of the meeting, the committee received an update on road safety and casualty figures.

Members were told that accident figures were down slightly, but the number of people killed or seriously injured on Bradford's roads had increased.

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