Violence and chaos with fires started and police cars overturned and smashed up in mass riot in Leeds

There were scenes of violence and chaos in Leeds on Thursday night (July 18) with fires started in the street and police cars overturned and smashed up in a mass riot.

Police were called to the large scale disorder as hundreds descended on the street. Crowds were seen throwing items at police cars and starting a huge blaze in the middle of the road.

People have described the scenes as 'mayhem' and 'a riot' on social media. A number of videos surfaced online showing scooters, pushchairs, bikes and bats also being used in the assault on a police car.

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And a police inspector with West Yorkshire Police was even filmed on a social media video urging people to 'stay in their houses' amid the growing chaos.

Clips showed large groups of people overturning one police car after smashing its windows, with other videos showing a large number of officers attempting to manage the huge crowds.

Later in the evening, a double decker bus was then set alight. Dramatic footage showed the vehicle burning in front of the mass crowds. Read here.

West Yorkshire Police said they were initially called to an incident at an address on Luxor Street and found a 'disturbance' involving agency workers and children. More people then started to arrive before 'pockets of disorder' began breaking out in the area.

The incident was still ongoing as of 9.30pm. At the time, spokesperson for the force said: "At 5pm today (Thursday), police were called to an ongoing incident at an address in Luxor Street, Harehills.

"Officers attended and found an ongoing disturbance which involved some agency workers and some children. More people started to