Romanians chant ‘please bring the children back’ as city council launches ‘urgent review’

On Friday evening, several hundred people attended a peaceful vigil that lasted until the early hours of Saturday morning.

In a statement, Leeds City Council said: “The council has agreed to undertake an urgent review of the case and to work with Romanian and Roma-led organisations, churches and the Honorary Consulate of Romania and other family representatives in the best interests of family and the wider Roma community”.

The local authority called for “all communities to remain calm” to try to prevent a repeat of Thursday night’s unrest, which culminated in five arrests on Friday.

“Local people are devastated by what happened and we want to make sure the distressing scenes we saw don’t happen again. Such actions will have a long-lasting and damaging impact on our community,” the statement continued.

“The Romanian and Roma community have played a fantastic role in the community and have contributed greatly to the diversity and richness of Harehills. We want this work to continue and further develop work that makes Harehills an even better place to work and live.”

Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said those responsible for Thursday night’s “audacious crime” should face the “full force of the law”.

West Yorkshire Police are reviewing footage of the violence and have made five arrests, with more expected in the coming days.

A police presence was maintained Saturday in the rows of red brick terraced houses where a large Romanian Roma community is located.