Leeds councillors urge Headingley residents to report Otley Run offences

The famous crawl, which stretches across about 15 pubs and ends in the city centre, is traditionally a rite of passage for the city’s students and typically completed – or half-completed – in fancy dress.

But the run has come under fire in recent months amid claims it’s become increasingly raucous since the pandemic and upsetting people living in the Headingley and Hyde Park suburbs.

Claims of sexual harassment by pub crawlers against female students have also been reported over the last year, while public urination is also a common cause of complaint.

Now, Labour councillors representing the area, as well as Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel, have written a joint letter to residents outlining how they are trying to address the issue.

In it, they said that reporting incidents could help put more police resources in the area.

The letter said: “We funded additional policing over the Freshers period to help manage the Otley Run.

“We’re now working on a text service so it’s easier to report concerns, rather than having to phone up.

“We’ve also discovered an old bye-law that can summon people to court for urinating in public. It’s not as good as on-the-spot fines, but a start.

“Please do report things to the police too, official records of incidents helps get more resource into the area.”

Mr Sobel and the councillors, who collectively cover Weetwood, Headingley and Hyde Park said they’ve also held talks with pub bosses on the Otley Run.

They said that landlords had “already taken action to encourage their patrons to act more responsibly.”

But they added: “We might need to push for the (council’s) licensing team to add conditions to their licences to curb some of these obvious social problems.

“To make these changes we need evidence that connects anti-social behaviour or crimes to specific premises.

“If you have any evidence like this please contact any of your local representatives.”