Harehills: Police vow to leave 'no stone unturned' in wake of disorder in Leeds - everything you need to know

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Police have vowed to leave “no stone unturned” as the dust settles following a night of disorder and chaos in Leeds.

Police were first called to Luxor Street, Harehills, at about 5pm last night (Thursday, July 19) to an “ongoing disturbance” involving “agency workers and some children”.

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Here’s everything you need to know regarding the incident...

National World

What happened?

Police were called to the east Leeds suburb last night over an incident at an address on Luxor Street.

Officers responded to a call from Children’s Social Care after social workers reported being met with hostility when dealing with a child protection matter.

Responding officers “were attacked and helped Children’s Social Care staff withdraw” to a place of safety.

What damage was caused?

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Tensions escalated as crowds began to gather, with shocking videos of riot scenes being shared across social media.

One video showed a bus ablaze amid the chaos. It showed flames engulfing the double decker bus, surrounded by clouds of black smoke before it was reduced to ashes.

Disorder spread down to the Compton Street area of Harehills, and police set up a number of road blocks as First Bus announced it would redirect bus services.

Who has been arrested?

In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs, confirmed that “several arrests have been made” in relation to the disorder.

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More arrests are expected to be made across the coming days as officers continue to review CCTV and social media footage of the incident.

Assistant Chief Constable Twiggs added: "We will leave no stone unturned in our hunt for all those who were involved and will work closely with our criminal justice partners to bring them to justice."

What has Leeds City Council said?

Leeds City Council has said it “would not be appropriate” to comment further on the ongoing investigation but urged the public to “avoid engaging with speculation on social media.”

The authority said: “Incidents like this do not reflect Leeds or the Harehills community as a whole. Our communities, including the one in Harehills, play a vital role in ensuring collectively we keep our neighbourhoods safe and feeling safe.

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"We are immensely grateful to those key individual networks of individuals, community leaders and elected officials within Harehills who rallied together last night to help to do this and prevent the situation from worsening alongside the police."

What has Tracy Brabin said?

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin has issued a “stay at home” plea after last night’s scenes.

At a press conference held today, Mayor Brabin explained that she visited Harehills this afternoon with Alison Lowe, the deputy mayor for policing and crime.

She said: “I want to strongly urge calm and to say to parents: please, please make sure that your youngsters are at home with you and not on the streets.

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