West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin appeals to parents in aftermath of Leeds riot

• Mayor Tracy Brabin made a statement on Friday afternoon before taking questions from journalists

The mayor of West Yorkshire has called on parents to keep their children off the streets after rioting in Leeds.

A clean-up operation was underway on Friday morning following a night of trouble in the Harehills area of the city.

Addressing journalists at a press conference on Friday afternoon, West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said she and her deputy, Alison Lowe, had met community leaders in Harehills in the aftermath of the disturbance.

She condemned the behaviour of a "small minority", and praised those who were on the streets "through the night" trying to quell the unrest and get people to go home.

She said she was hopeful there would be no repeat of the trouble, but added: "I want to strongly urge calm and to say to parents, please ensure that your youngsters are home with you and not on the streets."

The events were sparked by an incident at an address in Luxor Street around 5pm on Thursday, when police were called to an “ongoing disturbance” involving agency workers and children.

More people started to arrive at the location and the agency workers and children were taken to a safe place.

As a crowd started to gather, more officers were called to “pockets of disorder” emerging, eventually becoming a large scale riot which saw a police car flipped over and a double decker bus set on fire.

Ms Lowe, whose responsibilities include policing and crime, defended the actions of officers, who retreated in the face of violent attacks on Thursday night. She said the response had been developed in partnership with community leaders as the best way to handle unrest.

"The police did not want anybody to be harmed," she said. "No-one was harmed. If anyone who's upset about [the police withdrawal], we're very sorry, but no-one was harmed and the tactics were right."

Asst Ch Con Pat Twiggs, of West Yorkshire Police, earlier said the force had "continually assessed" the situation and took the decision to deploy specialist public order officers who then came under a "barrage of bricks and missiles" from a large group.

"A decision was taken to withdraw these officers temporarily as it was evident that the police was their sole target," he said.

"This allowed for further community mediation to take place in order to calm the situation.

• Amelia Beckett reports on the community's response

Gipton and Harehills ward councillor, Mothin Ali - who was shown in social media videos trying to stop some of the rioters - said the scene had been "absolute mayhem".

He said up to 2,000 people had been involved at the peak of the incident and said he and others had tried to help police who were initially caught in the middle of the incident.

"It was quite chaotic, it was absolutely crazy out here," he said. "First of all, we were trying to shelter the police... we acted as human shields for the police, because they were there without riot gear, without helmets, without shields, being pelted with bricks and bottles.

"We were just trying to calm people down and act as a protection barrier for the police while they made the withdrawal."

Cllr Ali said the area's neighbourhood policing team had been "fantastic", initially trying to "manage things, and not escalate things".

"In hindsight we can say [withdrawing] is the wrong decision... but the idea was to not antagonise things and try to let it fizzle out."

He said he had been in touch with police throughout the incident, but would like to meet senior officers to find out why the decision to withdraw had been made.

Refusing to be drawn on what had happened to instigate the disorder, Cllr Ali said he did not want to comment on the rumours circulating without having "real facts".

"There is some community upset around that, [but] I think we should be trying to calm the situation and not speculate," he said.

He also said arrests over the disorder "absolutely" needed to be made.

"There were people who were legitimately angry, but there were people here as well who wanted to cause trouble for the sake of causing trouble, and those people need to be held to account.

"Frustration is appropriate, but attacking a bus with innocent people on it is not."

On the prospect of further trouble on Friday, Cllr Ali called for calm and unity.

"I just hope everyone stays calm, I just hope everyone remembers we are a community, and whatever happens here is going to impact us in the long term.

"Let's come together, let's unite, and let's try to fix some of these problems."

ITV News reporter Katie Oscroft on the ground in Harehills

A police cordon remains around the burnt out bus - the most telling image of last night’s riots. A small crowd of people are just standing and looking at it.

A street sweeper now patrols the area which hours ago was thick with smoke and the sound of an angry crowd. Elsewhere in Harehills, police officers wearing masks are looking closely at the wreckage of the bus.

Councillors from the area are now appealing for calm tonight and as they do so, the crowd increases and some young people join them.

There is a nervous calm in this area now and in the middle of it the double decker bus, all but flattened to the ground, burnt out and surrounded by shards of glass.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who is also a West Yorkshire MP, said police have her full backing in “taking the strongest possible action” against rioters.

She said in a statement: “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.

“Those responsible must face the full force of the law and West Yorkshire Police have my support in pursuing the perpetrators and taking the strongest possible action against them.

“Local partners are meeting this morning and the police, the mayor and local councillors will be working closely with the community to provide support and reassurance and prevent further disturbances.

“Where there are incidents of disorder or unrest in communities, there is a responsibility on everyone to support the local agencies and residents who are working to resolve problems and prevent escalation. They have my support in their local work to provide a calm and firm response.”

West Yorkshire's mayor, Tracy Brabin, also responded to the rioting in a statement, saying she was "absolutely appalled by the violent and thoughtless actions".

“Such criminal behaviour will not be tolerated and I am in touch with West Yorkshire Police for regular updates on the progress of their investigation," she said.

“I would urge everyone to refrain from speculation on social media and if members of the public believe they have footage of criminal behaviour, I would ask for this to be passed on to the police.

“I am relieved that nobody was seriously hurt in this incident – we will provide any support we can to the people of Harehills following the violence perpetrated in their community.”

Another councillor for the area, Salma Arif, was also seen in social media videos trying to defuse the situation and appealing for people to be calm and stay away.

Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, posted an update on social media on Friday morning: "This morning I’ve been in Harehills speaking with local residents who are devastated by yesterday’s serious incidents.

"So many good people worked together to try to calm things and reduce disorder in the community they care about so much. They are unsung heroes in our community."

He had previously posted on Thursday to say he had been speaking with Harehills residents affected by the day's "very serious incidents"."They care passionately about their community," he said. "They want the disorder to end. They want those pushing misinformation from afar to stop."

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “While this is an ongoing police matter, it would not be appropriate to comment further on any alleged circumstances surrounding this incident, however we would ask people to avoid engaging with speculation on social media to enable people to engage with local services where they need to.

“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.

"We are immensely grateful to those key individual networks of individuals, community leaders and elected officials within Harehills who rallied together last night to help to do this and prevent the situation from worsening alongside the police.

“We would urge people living in the Harehills community to stay safe and follow the latest police advice, we would also like to thank all the agencies for their response, and members of the community who were engaged in defusing the issues.”

More to follow.

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