West Yorkshire Police reported that they were dispatched to Luxor Street, Harehills, at 5 pm on Thursday in response to an ongoing incident. Upon arrival, officers “found an ongoing disturbance which involved some agency workers and some children.”
As a crowd began to gather, the officers decided to relocate the agency workers and children to a safer location.However, the situation escalated, and “pockets of disorder” emerged in the area.
Social media posts allegedly showed a sizable crowd gathered on the street, with a police car being overturned and a bus being set on fire.
What led to the unrest?
Reports suggest that the riots were triggered by a protest following the removal of four children from a family by social services. One of the children had been taken to the hospital for treatment of an injury inflicted by a sibling. Local media reports indicate that the hospital authorities informed social services about the incident, leading to the children being removed from the family, which in turn sparked the protests.
Yorkshire police assured complete investigation
Police arrived to find an ongoing disturbance. By 9 pm, no uniformed officers were visible at the main disturbance site, although a police helicopter monitored the situation from above. Yorkshire police promised a thorough investigation into all criminal activities, including property damage caused by fires, and emphasised their commitment to holding those responsible accountable. “We want to emphasise that those responsible will face the full consequences of the law,” said the police.
Tom Riordan, chief executive of the Leeds City Council, said calm was restored by about 1 am and authorities have already begun to clean up the damage.
“There was a family incident earlier in the day that the police attended and our officials attended that a lot of the community got concerned about,” Riordan said in an interview with the BBC. “And that appeared to be the trigger of concern for groups of people being concerned about what had happened.”
Reactions from Officials
Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, expressed gratitude to emergency services in a social media post and urged those escalating tensions to reconsider their actions. She noted that no serious injuries had been reported. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned the violence, stating that such disorder has no place in society. Councillor Salma Arif of Gipton and Harehills urged residents to remain indoors in a video statement, confirming that police were managing the situation. “There is an ongoing situation currently in Harehills, we’re aware of that so police are here. We are asking everybody in the area to please stay at home at this moment in time,” she said.