Harehills: Night of chaos in Leeds with 'shocking' riot scenes - how disorder unfolded through the evening

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

Crowds began to gather and more officers were requested to attend the area in Harehills, where some “pockets of disorder were occurring”, West Yorkshire Police said in a statement last night.

The force repeatedly urged people to stay away from the area and stay indoors.

Footage and images from nearby streets appeared to show riot scenes unfolding and widespread chaos through the evening.

One image appeared to show a bus completely ablaze, while footage capture the moment a police care was flipped over onto its side.

A witness at the scene told the YEP “hundreds of people” were on the streets in Harehills as crowds continued to gather.

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The disorder stretched around to the congested Compton Road area of the suburb, and there were reports of incidents on Harehills Lane.

Following their initial call-out to Luxor Street, police said “more people started to attend the location”.

The force added that “a decision was made to remove the agency workers and the children to a safe place”.

The police statement said: “A crowd started to gather and more officers were requested to attend the area, where some pockets of disorder were occurring.

“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.

“No injuries have been reported and enquiries are ongoing at the scene.”

In a statement issued late on Thursday, a First Bus spokesperson confirmed that two vehicles were “caught up in the disorder”, after images showed a bus destroyed in a fire.

They said none of First’s bus drivers or passengers reported injuries in the chaos.

The spokesperson said: “Two of our vehicles have been caught up in the public disorder in the Harehills area of Leeds this evening (Thursday 18 November).

“A team from our depot was quickly at the scene to provide support to our drivers and customers.

“We can confirm that both drivers are unhurt and we have no reports of injuries to passengers.

“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.”

See how the evening unfolded by revisiting updates as they happened via our YEP’s blog below.