More police and toilets among Otley Run proposals

More police officers, extra toilets and "better" queuing systems have been proposed as part of plans to make Leeds' Otley Run pub crawl safer.

Traditionally a fancy dress rite for passage for students who visit around 18 pubs on the route through the Headingley and Hyde Park areas, the crawl's popularity has boomed since the end of lockdown and now attracts older drinkers too.

That has led to concerns from locals who have complained about rising anti-social behaviour, public urination and dangerous road use from some revellers.

In a letter to residents, the area's Labour councillors said they and local MP Alex Sobel had met pub bosses to suggest "solid steps" to tackle the issues.

The councillors, Jonathan Pryor and Abdul Hannan, described the meeting as "productive" and said the bars had been "willing to explore" their suggestions.

Under proposals put forward, pubs would provide "direct funding" to pay for additional police officers along the route - an idea first mooted earlier this year.

The letter said "better queuing systems" which moved people away from blocking pavements were also being developed and pubs were being encouraged to join a Otley Run "project group", which brings stakeholders together to monitor progress.

Extra toilet facilities "where these could be accommodated" and support for the White Ribbon campaign to end misogyny and violence against women were also proposed, the councillors added.

Two women were injured in a crossbow attack on the route in April before the suspect fatally injured himself.

Pryor and Hannan said the discussions were aimed at helping Headingley cope with the "sheer numbers" of people now doing the Otley Run.

They added: "We believe these could be solid steps, and go some way to tackling the issues."

When the idea of pubs paying for police was raised in May, one bar owner said he was against the idea.

Andy Waugh, who runs Sixes Social Cricket in Headingley, said: "I understand there's a lot of people that come to do the Otley Run on a Saturday and that the services must be stretched. As empathetic as I am with that, we are also stretched as a hospitality business.

"Month after month, there seems to be more cost layered into our business."

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