Terrified residents have taken to the streets of Leeds to defend their homes after ‘violent’ thugs drove riot police out after setting the city ablaze.
Chaos erupted in Harehills, east Leeds early yesterday evening following an outbreak of ‘serious disorder’ that saw bonfires lit across the city, a police car overturned and a double decker bus torched, reducing it to a charred and twisted wreck.
Community members were forced to plead with the rabble as police, despite having first responded to the disturbance around 5pm last night, remained relatively absent from the mayhem until 1am today.
Green Party councillor Mothin Ali, who after being elected to Leeds Council in May declared his victory a ‘win for the people of Gaza’, begged the rioters to stop, saying ‘there’s children in there’, as fires raged in the streets.
Police and local officials urged residents to stay home as rioters flooded the streets around Harehills and roads were closed off. But hooligans continued to turn flood into the area, with many gleefully livestreaming footage of the havoc on social media.
The Home Secretary has condemned the ‘shocking scenes and attacks’ in the northern city and West Yorkshire Police, which has been accused of intentionally avoiding the riot, vowed that the ‘full weight of the law will be brought against those responsible’.
Chaos erupted in Harehills, east Leeds early yesterday evening following an outbreak of ‘serious disorder’ that saw bonfires lit across the city, a police car overturned and a double decker bus torched (pictured), reducing it to a charred and twisted wreck
Community members were forced to plead with the rabble as police, despite having first responded to the disturbance around 5pm last night, remained relatively absent from the mayhem until 1am today
Firemen put out the flames caused by the rioters
Police and Fire crews eventaully move into the Harehills area of Leeds to put out the remaining fires after the riots on the streets
Firefighters douse a fire, set in the middle of Harehills Lane
Police leave the scene of a burning bus after firefighters extinguished the vehicle
An officer looks on at the smouldering wreck of a vehicle after last night’s lawless mayhem
Large crowds of people gathered in the Harehills area of Leeds on Thursday night, where thugs overturned and smashed up a police car with scooters, prams and bikes
A police was overturned around 5pm Thursday as disorder broke out in the street
Community members were forced to plead with the rabble as police, despite having first responded to the disturbance around 5pm last night, remained relatively absent from the mayhem until 1am today. Officers are pictured at the scene early this morning
Officers were called to an incident at an address in Luxor Street at 5pm on Thursday where they found an ‘ongoing disturbance’ involving agency workers and children, West Yorkshire Police said.
Locals allege the chaos was linked to local children being taken into care, adding that some people in the community responded by setting fires and ‘throwing stones’.
A large crowd began to gather at the location, prompting the agency workers and children to be taken to a safe place and more officers were requested to attend the area where ‘pockets of disorder’ were emerging.
Crowds continued to form in Luxar Street as police officers desperately attempted to disperse people who had gathered to watch the earlier incident.
Compared to the rest of the UK, Harehills has high levels of unemployment.
It was the same area that was infamously hit by the 2001 Harehills Riot, which broke out after the wrongful arrest of an Asian man.
During the 2001 riots, 26 cars were burnt out, with two police officers and two journalists severely injured, and a shop was set on fire.
More than 20 men were sent to prison for their involvement in the violence which flared that day.
Livestream footage on social media showed angry rioters setting fire to vehicles, including a public bus.
A man throws an item onto a fire during unrest in Harehills, Leeds
Mr Ali faces off against the thugs yelling at them that ‘there are children in there’ seemingly referring to a home near to where the open fire is burning
In the video, posted on X formerly Twitter, rioters can be seen dragging wheelie bins to add to fire raging in the middle of the road. Mr Ali can then be seen dragging a wheelie bin away from the flames before attempting to wrestle a wooden pallet from another person
Sky News broadcast footage which showed Mr Ali helping with clean up efforts in the area
Other footage showed how the thugs overturned and smashed up a police car with scooters, prams and bikes.
The vehicle was left in the road with its blue lights flashing, sirens blaring, and car alarms going off as crowds of people shouted in the streets.
Locals were also seen running towards a fire started in the middle of the road with a large fridge, which they hurled onto the blaze whilst onlookers cheered.
Cllr Ali, 42, was among the Harehills residents who took to the streets to plead with the lawless rioters and warn community members to protect their house – as police were nowhere to be seen.
‘There’s children in there,’ he yelled at the crowd, adding: ‘This is our neighbourhood!’
Another resident, standing next to the councillor while flames burned around them, shouted: ‘There’s families in there. Think before you act. Those cameras are recording each and every one of us!’
Cllr Ali was also seen aiding in clean-up efforts as fires raged on without interference from police or fire service even though it had been hours since the riot broke out.
Riesa, a pharmacy dispenser who did not want to give her surname, witnessed ‘quite violent’ scenes last night, including people throwing items at police officers and cars.
Police respond to the ‘serious disturbance’ in Harehills on Thursday night as multiple fires have been set across the city
Firefighters are pictured spraying water on the remains of a fire set in Leeds last night
Police and fire services move into Compton Road, Harehills, Leeds this morning after rioters wrecked havoc on the city overnight
Locals were also seen running towards a fire started in the middle of the road Thursday with a large fridge, which they hurled onto the fire as the crowd cheered. Images later showed a double decker bus had been reduced to a charred and twisted wreck
Police drive through Leeds around 1am today after ‘pockets of disorder’ emerged across the city overnight
Firefighters early this morning spray water on objects that were burned in the riots
The 26-year-old, who lives off Harehills Lane, said: ‘They were attacking police cars, throwing things at the police cars – anything they could pick up off the floor really. Rocks from the garden, rubbish, drinks, anything.
‘Drinks were definitely being throwing at the police – water or juice or fizzy drinks, or anything they had in their hands basically, at the cars because [the police] were trying not to get too close because it was quite violent.’
She said about an hour later, when she was back home, she heard ‘chanting and screaming’ from outside, adding that it sounded like ‘a thousand people’.
‘Looking out the window, you can see that people were attacking cars that were just at the traffic light trying to go past them, but they wouldn’t turn around because I think they were getting quite scared because there were so many people,’ she continued.
‘A few minutes after that, looking out my house, I could just see big black smoke coming from the main road.
‘My husband said that they were pulling bins from people’s businesses or houses and just putting them into the middle of the road full of rubbish and just setting it on fire.’
She continued: ‘There was a bus at the lights, obviously stopped by all these people as well. He was trying to get past, obviously he couldn’t, so he just reversed and just stopped basically outside my street, and just left the bus there because he felt he was in danger.
‘I did see people throwing things at the bus before the driver had got out. Someone threw some glass at the bus.’
A double decker bus was sent up in flames on Thursday evening after disturbance escalated into a full-blown riot
Rioters have set a bus on fire in Leeds after a disturbance involving ‘agency workers and children’ descended into a riot
The double decker bus was left a twisted and smouldering wreck after it was set alight
Pictured is a rioter setting fire to a double decker bus in Leeds on Thursday evening
A rioter is seen setting fire to a bus in Leeds on Thursday evening
Multiple fires have been set in Harehills, Leeds where a riot has broken out
Disorder has broken out in Harehills, Leeds, where rioters have set multiple fires
Harehills resembled a warzone overnight with plumes of smoke from burnt objects filling the air.
A few hundred thugs still understood to be dispersed across the city early this morning. A large number of public order officers and helicopters have been deployed to the area.
West Yorkshire Police have also called in reinforcements from the force in South Yorkshire, a spokesperson told MailOnline.
In a statement, the force said: ‘More officers have been deployed to the area to assist with the management of this incident.
‘Some road closures are also being implemented and people are advised to avoid the area at this time.’
But despite calling for back-up, Sky News’ northern correspondent Shingi Mararike reported police have taken an approach in which they’re ‘not going directly into the mass of people’ and instead trying to avoid ‘adding to the flames’.
The force said it wanted to ‘reassure residents’ that it was ‘responding to the disorder incidents which have taken place’ and that ‘appropriate specialist public order resources are attending’.
‘Officers are also reviewing footage which has circulated on social media showing offending,’ a force spokesperson said in a statement.
Police reiterated that all criminal offences, including damage to vehicles from fire, would be investigated and vowed to take action against the rioters.
‘We want to make it very clear that the full weight of the law will be brought against those responsible,’ the force added.
As of 8.15pm on Thursday, West Yorkshire Police said no one had been reported injured and the Mayor of West Yorkshire said she was ‘reassured’ there had been no serious injuries in a social media post later that night.
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A man on a mobility scooter rides past a burning fire started by rioters in Leeds last night
A few hundred thugs are understood to be dispersed across the city, which has plumes of smoke from burnt objects filling the air
Rioters gather near a burning bus in the Harehills area of Leeds on Thursday night
Locals were seen rushing towards a fire with what appears to be a fridge (left). They then hurl the appliance into the blaze as locals cheer (right)
Locals stand watching a bonfire in the street in Harehills, Leeds. Police have urged locals to disperse
The scene around the Compton Road area of Harehills, where vehicles have been set on fire
Harehills resembles a warzone, with one police vehicle overturned and a bonfire started at a road junction
Riot officers are seen at the scene in Harehills as the disturbance continued. Scores of people have turned out on the streets
First Bus, which operates Leeds’ bus services, confirmed that two of their vehicles had been involved in the riot last night, with one set on fire and another ‘caught up’ in the chaos.
A team from FirstBus’s depot was quickly deployed to the scene on to ‘provide support to our drivers and customers’, a spokesperson for the transport group said.
‘We can confirm that both drivers are unhurt and we have no reports of injuries to passengers,’ FirstBus said in a statement to MailOnline. ‘One of our vehicles has been set on fire but was empty as the customers had earlier been transferred to another bus together with the driver.
‘All services are being diverted from this area of Harehills for the safety of our staff and customers. We will follow the advice of the police in deciding when normal routes will resume and update customers as soon as we can.’
As the violent disorder increased last, Cllr Salma Arif, the local representative for the area on Leeds City Council, posted a video with a West Yorkshire Police inspector on X urging people to stay home.
The Labour councillor said: ‘There is an ongoing situation currently in Harehills… we are asking everyone in the area to please stay home at this point in time.’
Inspector Nicolls, the East Leeds neighbourhood police inspector, added in the clip: ‘If you can all just stay where you are, stay in your houses, we will manage this.
‘If you are in the crowd I would ask you to go home please, so we can keep everyone safe, thank you.’
Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin later thanked ’emergency services’ for their response to what she has called a ‘very difficult situation’.
‘I’m being briefed by West Yorkshire Police and we are monitoring events,’ she wrote on X. ‘I’m reassured no one has been seriously injured but suggest those who are using this to inflame community tensions to think again.’
Large crowds gathered at the scene as police officers attend a disturbance at a property in Luxor Street, Harehills, Leeds at 5pm
A man makes an offensive gesture at a police officer. West Yorkshire Police has sent dozens of officers to the scene and closed roads
A man uses a scooter to smash up a police car as people watch and film on their mobile phones
A spokesperson for the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: ‘We are aware of a fire in the open in Harehills, Leeds at present. As it stands the fire in the street is not impacting on public safety or buildings and as such we are allowing it to burn its self out’
Police officers deal with the large crowd of people gathered at the scene
Police officers attempt to control the crowd of people that had gathered at the address
A child was seen punching a police car which had arrived at the scene
Glass and debris lies on the street as gangs of thugs smash up a police car
Despite there being conflicting reports about what triggered the shameful riots, prominent political figures including Reform Leader Nigel Farage condemned the behaviour as ‘the politics of the subcontinent’.
‘The politics of the subcontinent are currently playing out on the streets of Leeds. Don’t say I didn’t warn you,’ the Clacton MP tweeted.
Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, hit back at Mr Farage, accusing him of ‘inflaming a situation with misinformation’.
‘This is a situation you know nothing about and no one has briefed you on. You are inflaming a situation with misinformation,’ he wrote on X.
‘Politicians have a responsibility to not exacerbate situations particularly with no knowledge of them. I expect you to issue an apology.’
Meanwhile, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was ‘appalled’ by the ‘shocking scenes’ and ‘attacks’ on Harehills.
Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin has thanked ’emergency services’ for their response to what she has called a ‘very difficult situation’
Despite there being conflicting reports about what triggered the shameful riots, prominent political figures including Reform Leader Nigel Farage condemned the behaviour as ‘the politics of the subcontinent’
Alex Sobel, MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, hit back at Mr Farage, accusing him of ‘inflaming a situation with misinformation’
‘Disorder of this nature has no place in our society. My thanks go to West Yorkshire police for their response. I am being kept regularly updated,’ she tweeted.
Leeds East MP Richard Burgon added: ‘I am on my way back to Leeds from Parliament and am in touch with the police and concerned residents about the on-going incident in Harehills.
‘The police say no injuries have been reported but are advising people to avoid the area at the moment if possible.’
Police remain at the scene today. Leeds City Council was contacted for comment.
