Dozens of bikers bring 'utter chaos' to busy Leeds street

A busy street in Leeds had to be closed after more than 50 bikers began riding up and down on Monday night in an event reportedly planned on social media.

The motorbikes and quadbikes forced police to close part of Kirkstall Road - the A65 - for about 90 minutes on Monday evening.

A police helicopter also attended the incident, which was described by those on Twitter as "utter chaos" and "madness" and similar to scenes in Mad Max.

A spokesman for West Yorkshire police said: "There has been a large number of off-road bikes and quads gather after it has been organised on social media.

"They've been riding down Kirkstall Road causing some disruption to traffic.

"We did have a closure in place on the road but that has been taken off now and everything seems to be returning to normal."

The reason for the gathering was not clear but it is not believed to have been a protest.

The police spokesman said no arrests were made.

It comes a day after the Metropolitan Police arrested eight men for failing to stop at a similar gathering on Sunday evening, using tyre deflation devices to stop 17 motorbikes and three quad bikes.

Four men, aged 17, 22, 22, and 32, were arrested in Blackheath, south east London, two men, 20 and 28, in London Bridge and the eighth in Streatham, south London.

Superintendent Ade Adelekan, from Met Command and Control, said: "The recklessness of the riders involved endangered not only themselves, but other road users and pedestrians.

"This is totally unacceptable behaviour that tied up significant resources that could have been better employed in emergency situations elsewhere."