Overnight riots in Leeds ignite tension over social services

In Leeds, in northern England, cleanup and damage assessment are ongoing after overnight riots. Residents of one of the districts clashed with police and earlier set two buses on fire. According to the media, the riots broke out after social workers arrived to take children from a Romani family.

Burned cars, scuffles with officers, flying stones, and crowds on the streets until late at night - these scenes took place in one of the districts of Leeds, in northern England.

According to Sky News, the clash with the police occurred after social workers arrived to take children from a Romani family living there.

Riots in Leeds broke out on Thursday afternoon and lasted until late at night.

In videos posted online, it can be seen that more people are coming out onto the street hour by hour. The crowd gathered, among other places, around a burning bus.

“It was terrible. These people first threw stones at the standing buses and then set them on fire,” said the owner of a restaurant next to where it all happened in an interview with Manchester Evening News.

A video also surfaced online showing men setting a vehicle on fire. Internet users commented that "they don’t cover their faces because they know they won’t face any consequences."

One of the people who tried to calm the situation and even extinguish the fire was a local councillor.

In a later interview with Sky News, he noted that social problems, such as poverty and exclusion, lead to such situations.

Some residents criticized the police for not intervening earlier, even though officers were on site. Only later, when the crowd began to thin out, did they set up barriers around the burning bus, and firefighters intervened.

Authorities emphasize that the children were transported to a "safe place" before the riots broke out. No one was injured. There is also no information about arrests.

Local police representatives appealed to residents not to "spread rumours and unverified information" about the causes of these riots.

According to them, local criminal groups seeking to "destabilize and create tension in the local community" are responsible.