By David Spereall, BBC Yorkshire
Several people have been arrested after violence broke out in a Leeds suburb, police said.
A police car was flipped and a bus was torched in Harehills during the disorder, which broke out at around 17:00 BST on Thursday and continued for several hours.
West Yorkshire Police said a number of people had been held, though it did not specify how many, and said further arrests would be made in the coming days.
The force also said officers had withdrawn from the scene during the violence after they “came under a barrage of bricks and missiles from a large group”.
Dan Nelson
Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs said officers had been called to an address “after social workers reported being met with hostility when dealing with a child protection matter”.
He added: “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.”
Mr Twiggs said the decision to withdraw officers from the scene was taken “as it was evident” that police were the “sole target” of the troublemakers.
He added: “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.”
Mr Twiggs added: “We will leave no stone unturned in our hunt for all those who were involved.”
Tom Ingall/BBC
Earlier, the Prime Minister had condemned the violence, saying “disorder of this nature has no place in our society”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said those responsible would face “the full force of the law”.
Ms Cooper said: “The scenes of criminality and disorder in Leeds last night were disgraceful, including attacks on police vehicles and public transport, and will have been very distressing for local residents.”
Mehwish Ahmed, who lives on Luxor Street, where the incident started, described children and social workers being removed from a house by police officers.
“Everybody gathered around [the house] and it just got out of control to be honest,” she said.
She told the BBC that up to 50 police officers were present as a crowd gathered and became aggressive.
“The crowd just followed from there and that’s when it spread onto the other streets,” she said.
“I don’t think a lot of people knew what was going on either but were obviously just joining in.”
Ms Ahmed added: “We’ve been here for about 11 years but have never seen anything like that before.”
PA
Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said she was “appalled” by the scenes.
At a press conference she said the disorder had been “distressing for the community” and appealed for calm in the area.
“I want to publicly commend those people who throughout the night were on the streets ensuring that the outcome wasn’t worse than the outcome we saw. They went above and beyond,” she told reporters.
“I also want to strongly urge calm and say to parents, please, please, make sure that your youngsters are home with you and not on the streets.”
Mothin Ali, Green Party councillor for Gipton and Harehills, was seen on social media trying to stop troublemakers at the scene and appealed for calm.
Speaking to the BBC at the scene just after midnight, Mr Ali said: “This community is yours. It belongs to us.
“This bus was ours. This library was ours. The traffic lights was ours. We need to take pride in our community and make sure these things can’t happen here.”
Mr Ali added: “I hope we can really get to the bottom of what’s happened. We need real investment in these communities. We need housing looked at properly – we’ve got some of the poorest quality housing in the country.
“All of these issues lead to people’s frustrations, but this is not the way to take it out.”
BBC/Dan Nelson
West Yorkshire Police Federation chairman Craig Nicholls said the resilience of officers in the face of a “night of chaos” was “nothing short of remarkable”.
“In the face of aggression and disorder, their quick-thinking and bravery were critical in bringing the situation to a safe conclusion,” he said.
“Their actions prevented further escalation and safeguarded the lives of many in the community.”
He added: “These officers acted with professionalism and courage, exemplifying the very best of what it means to serve and protect.”
Leeds City Council said it was “immensely grateful” to the individuals who stopped the situation from “worsening”.
A spokesperson 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.”
Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk.
