Leeds City Council has launched an ‘urgent investigation’ into the handling of a childcare case after it sparked a night of rioting in the city.

Violence broke out in the Harehills area of ​​the Yorkshire city on Thursday evening, with police cars and a bus set alight by an unruly mob.

Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, said those responsible for the disorder should face the “full force of the law” for what she described as “brazen criminality”.

After a tense Friday night, during which members of the Romanian and Roma communities held a vigil and chanted “please bring the children back”, the council has called for calm and announced a review of its handling of the “family issue”.

This comes after the children’s parents announced that they will go on hunger strike until their four children are returned.

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

Local authorities called on “all communities to remain calm” to try to avoid a repeat of Thursday night’s unrest, which culminated in five arrests on Friday.

“Local people are devastated by what has happened and we want to ensure that the harrowing scenes we witnessed are not repeated. Such actions will have a long-lasting and damaging impact on our community,” the statement continued.

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

The measure follows meetings with members of the Romanian and Roma communities who allege that authorities have shown “systematic racism and discrimination” in their handling of the case involving a family from their community.

On Thursday evening, police were called to a home in Harehills after social services were struggling to deal with a care issue involving Romanian and Roma children. Officers were filmed on social media removing children from the home as crowds gathered.

According to police, officers were called “after social workers reported experiencing hostile treatment while handling a child protection case.”

Officers soon came under attack and had to retreat as they became targets of hundreds of people.

West Yorkshire Police are currently reviewing footage of the violence, much of which was posted on social media, and have said further arrests are expected in the coming days.

Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twigg said on Friday: “The large investigating team has launched an investigation which includes reviewing CCTV and social media footage and images to identify the perpetrators.

“We will leave no stone unturned in our search for all those involved and will work closely with our partners in criminal justice to bring them to justice.”

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