PEOPLE who live near speed cameras like to look after them, it is said.

But, this one, on Bradford Road, Hillhouse, near the junction with Willow Lane East, attracted the wrong kind of attention.

Arsonists set it alight early yesterday morning by pushing a wheeled bin underneath it and setting it on fire.

Officials from the organisation which sets up and manages the cameras say such attacks are rare - and most people love having the cameras near their homes.

Philip Gwynne, spokesman for the West Yorkshire Casualty Reduction Partnership, said: "It is very rare our cameras are damaged like this.

"There is a minority of people who think they have the right to drive down roads at any speed they like and put their own lives and those of others at risk.

"It is a futile exercise to damage a camera because it will be replaced."

He added: "We have found that people who live near speed cameras like having them around and seem to adopt them.

"We receive far more requests for cameras than we can possibly fulfil. People are pleased to see them and recognise they have a calming effect on passing traffic."

Mr Gwynne said the partnership received calls from people who had seen someone acting suspiciously near cameras.

"They say they will keep an eye on the camera for us," he added. "Motorists also phone us if they believe someone has tampered with a camera.

"The cameras seem to have drawn a caring response from the people of West Yorkshire."