People in Bradford have spoken of their shock and worry as they wait for news about the family of 12 who are believed to have travelled to Syria.

The disappearance of the three sisters and nine children is the latest bad news to hit the city and the wider West Yorkshire area.

Residents are still recovering from the alleged attempted murder of a teacher by a pupil at a Bradford school last week.

And yesterday, nearby Dewsbury was reeling from the shock of the death of 17-year-old Talha Asmal, who is reported to have taken part in a suicide bombing in Iraq.

In Bradford city centre today, teenagers and parents spoke of their worry about the apparent rise in the recruitment of young people to extremism.

Father-of-two Hameed Shah, 25, said: "Everybody is afraid. The youngsters have just been normal, everyday youngsters.

"It's scary to be honest with you. It does make you think. I've got two young ones myself."

Mr Shah added: "I personally think that somebody or something is getting in their head - it's happening a few times.

"I don't know how they get into their heads to do what they do. It's in our community, it's online, I personally think it's happening all over the place."

Ayesha Butt, 18, said she feared for the Dalwood family's children - who are aged between three and 15 - if reports that they have been taken to Syria are true.

She said: "Why would you do that with children? They're so young, they're innocent, they don't know any better.

"It's really worrying. It's worrying that it's now women and they are taking children there as well. They will probably be influenced themselves at a young age."

Miss Butt said she believed people were being brainwashed into joining extremist groups and she did not believe it was anything to do with Islam.

She said people needed to be educated at a young age to help prevent more people from leaving the UK to join extremists.

Vanessa Davis, 37, a teacher in Bradford, said she believed some people in the city were vulnerable to being influenced by extremists because communities are still too segregated.

She said: "I think it's a big problem in Bradford because all the different communities are segregated.

"Because of that I think that's why these things happen because different communities are not engaging with each other.

"It doesn't surprise me because there are a lot of extremist attitudes in Bradford, it's becoming a problem, particularly in Bradford, the communities aren't integrated."

But she said only a minority of people were at risk of being influenced.

"Most people do get on but, because people aren't integrating, you are going to get these pockets of extremism and it's usually the most vulnerable people," she said.

Ms Davis said she had not experienced any problems with the young people she teaches and said people needed to be educated.

She said: "They need education that's objective and not just from one perspective