Leeds Bus Station hit by hundreds of anti-social incidents as police step up patrols
Chronic anti-social behaviour at the city’s bus station has seen more than 460 incidents reported in six months.
The scale of nuisance behaviour at Leeds City Bus Station has seen regular police patrols carried out to boost safety.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) figures show offences linked to drugs and alcohol were among the reports.
Others involved verbal abuse and fighting in the York Street bus station.
A WYCA report said: “There are known issues with antisocial behaviour (ASB) at and around the bus station.
“The types of incident categories are wide-ranging but do typically involve ASB by adults and young people, and in total, there have been 464 recorded incidents at the bus station.”
The report said police community support officers would be in both Leeds and Huddersfield bus stations between 4pm and 7pm until the end of the year.
The operation was launched at the bus stations, the busiest in the WYCA area, as part of a Safer Travel scheme to reduce ASB and protect the safety of women and girls.
A second police team would also focus on violent crime and and ASB as part of an initiative called Operation Jemlock, the report said.
It said: “They currently have a team which have a default patrol plan covering Leeds Bus Station daily between 6.30pm and 8.30pm each day as a minimum.”
Leeds City Council also formed an action group to tackle ASB around the bus station, nearby Penny Pocket Park and Kirkgate Market.
The group included police, council, WYCA and Leeds Markets staff, along with National Express.
Action included new CCTV covering the route between the park and bus station and coordinated patrols. Vegetation was also removed to improve CCTV coverage, WYCA said.