Harehills: Live as police confirm 'several arrests made' after night of chaos in Leeds area

Jahed Bengal (left) and Joseph Tocila were both working when it unfolded last night.

Jahed said: “It's not right. There's loads of kids live around this area.

“Don't be putting people at risk. Imagine if that bus had blown up?”

On the cause of the aggression he said: “This area has got no support.

“They are not putting money in to the community and that'd why you end up with people and situations like this. The government need to start looking in to supporting these sort of areas.”

Tocila added: Iit's not right. It's a big sign that somethings not right.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the “shocking and disgraceful” disorder in Harehills last night.

Pointing to the Home Secretary’s statement on the violence, a No 10 spokeswoman said: “He would echo that the scenes that we saw last night were shocking and disgraceful. And disorder of this nature has no place in our society.

“That’s why he would like to thank West Yorkshire Police and the emergency services for their swift support.

“And the police have our full support in carrying out their investigations and taking the strongest possible action against perpetrators and keep the public safe.”

Asked about fears of community tensions being inflamed, she said: “The police have also discouraged people from speculating on the cause of the disorder. And the Prime Minister would also urge people to follow this advice.

“But certainly, as the Home Secretary I think also outlined this morning, local partners and councillors will be working very closely with the community today to provide support and reassurance in light of the shocking scenes that we saw last night and prevent further disturbances.”

Downing Street said the Government would not “cut across a police matter” when asked whether it would support fast-tracked sentences for rioters in Harehills, Leeds.

Sir Keir Starmer, when he was director of public prosecutions in 2012, said rapid riot prosecutions were more important than long sentences.

Asked whether the Prime Minister would back fast sentences now, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: “On this case, we’ll let the police carry out their work and they have our full support in doing that.”

Leeds councillor Mothin Ali tells of chaotic scenes as 2,000 people 'outnumber' police and officers forced 'to withdraw' in night of disorder:

Cllr Salma Arif and Local Businessman Norman talk to the YEP:

Susan, who has lived in Harehills all her life, reflects on Thursday’s disorder:

Cllr Mothin Ali was spotted with clean-up volunteers from a local housing association.

One resident spoke out after a night of disorder:

Leeds City Council has issued its official statement, where it urges people to avoid spreading misinformation over Thursday’s events.

You can find the full statement here.

Cllr Mothin Ali spoke to Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Charles Gray about what could happen tonight: "This is out community and we need to work to protect it.

“We've held meetings with the police and community activists and are putting a plan place. We are assembling a team to help with a clean up."

Asked about the cause of the disturbance and what it represents on a wider scale he said: "Our community is massively neglected. It's chronically underfunded, there's a lack of decent housing, there's people in squalid conditions and young people don't have after school clubs. There's good job opportunities.

"People here need something. They need something to look forward to.

"These things are going to bubble under the surface and all it takes in an area like this is a spark and things explode.

"As a group of people we thrive - we are a rainbow of flavours here. We get on with whatever we have to. We work together with what we have and that's what we want to build and foster."

Asked about what the community would need from the new government, he said: "We need massive amounts of investment. Decent housing. A lot of houses are overcrowded. We have huge issues with drugs."

First Bus in Leeds has announced that diversions to services in the Harehills district of Leeds will be implemented from today (Friday 19 July) at 2pm and be repeated on Saturday. This follows the serious public disorder in the area yesterday evening.

The services affected are: 4/4F/12/13/13A/16/42/49/50/50A and 91.

A spokesperson said: “We are diverting services that go into or around the Harehills area from 2pm today and this will remain in place through the night and be repeated at the same time on Saturday.

“This decision is for the safety and wellbeing of our colleagues and customers. We appreciate that diversions will cause disruption but would like to thank in advance, all passengers and the local community for their patience and understanding while these changes are in place.

“Customers are advised to check before travelling on affected services and to follow our social media channels or visit the website Harehills Diversion | First Bus for regular updates.”

Amjad Hussain said he got a couple of calls from people last night telling him about the disturbance outside his shop 2nd Time Round and got there at around 10.15.

He said: "I came down and saw the bus on fire. It was chaos.

"With social media things get around so quick and that's why there was so many people here. Then there was the helicopter.

"This is Harehills so there's always something happening but this was something totally different.

"My opinion is I know a lot of people are going to jump on to blaming the minorities but there's underlying issues here.”

Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs of the West Yorkshire Police has issued a lengthy statement where he vowed to “leave no stone unturned”.

He said: “There has understandably been a great deal of speculation, commentary and concern following the disorder in Harehills, Leeds, overnight.

“Our officers responded to a call from Children’s Social Care at around 5pm yesterday (Thursday 18 July) 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.

"As the disorder escalated, damage was caused to vehicles and several fires set.  

"We continually assessed the situation and took the decision to deploy specialist public order officers who then came under a barrage of bricks and missiles from a large group.

"A decision was taken to withdraw these officers temporarily as it was evident that the police was their sole target.

"This allowed for further community mediation to take place in order to calm the situation.

"Police then returned to the area with Fire colleagues to extinguish the remaining fires which were self-contained and didn’t pose a wider risk. By this point the crowd had diminished and officers were able to fully restore order.

"Throughout the night several arrests were made in relation to the disorder and further arrests will be made over the next few days.

"The force Major Enquiry Team have launched an investigation which will include reviewing CCTV and social media footage and images to identify the perpetrators.

"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."

He continued: “It is important to recognise the disorder and damage was caused by a criminal minority intent on disrupting the community. Members of the community working in conjunction with our Key Individual Networks and Elected Members who were on the ground were trying to de-escalate the situation. They are also working alongside us and Leeds City Council today to clean-up the area.

"There will be a significant policing presence within Harehills over the weekend and future attempts to engage in crime and disorder will be met with a robust response.

“I would like to thank the Harehills community once again for their efforts and support.”

Anyone who may have filmed any of the disorder is asked to upload any footage via the dedicated Public Portal.

A Major Incident Portal has been created where anyone with information, photos, video footage (including dashcam or doorbell footage) in relation to the disorder can submit it through this link: Public Portal (mipp.police.uk)

Anyone with any information can contact the force under Op Jerviswick or call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Diggers have just arrived in Harehills to assist with clearing up.

Yorkshire Evening Post reporter Charles Gray and James Connolly are in Harehills, where more police have arrived.

An officer said their want “more of a visual presence”.

The digger has started removing the wreckage of the bus that was set on fire on Thursday.

Reporters James Connolly and Charles Gray are once again live from Foundry Approach in Harehills, Leeds.

In a statement, assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs, confirmed that “several arrests have been made” in relation to the disorder and “further arrests will be made over the next few days.”