Personal safety
It is important to feel confident when you are walking around in Leeds or your local area. These tips can help you stay safe:
- Where possible, avoid walking around at night on your own.
- Try to stay in well-lit, busy areas.
- If you are on a night out, do not accept drinks from people you do not know and do not leave your drink unattended.
- Keep your bag secure so your belongings are not on show.
- Trust your instincts if you do not trust someone.
Protecting yourself from burglary and theft
Thieves are often looking for an easy opportunity to steal, so by following some simple tips you can help protect yourself:
- Don’t keep personal belongings such as car keys, money, mobile phones or laptops on view, either in your car or home.
- Keep ground level windows and doors closed and locked if you are not in the room.
- If you have a burglar alarm, use it when you go out or go to bed.
- Shred receipts, bank statements, bills before throwing them in the bin.
- If you are renting your home, and there is a problem with the property that puts you at risk of burglary, report it to your landlord. For example, a broken window or lock.
- Consider using a timer on lamps to light up your home when you are out. They are inexpensive and you can buy them from shops selling household goods, like Wilko or Argos.
Reporting a burglary or theft
If you are a victim of burglary, you should report it to the police.
If it is not an emergency, if the crime has already happened and no-one is in danger, you can call 101 or visit your local police station.
If it is an emergency, because you or someone else in danger, or the crime is in progress, call 999.
Antisocial behaviour
Anti-social behaviour is different types of behaviour that causes harm to an individual or the community. It can make people feel distressed and intimidated. It can happen where you live, or in a public place or on public transport. Examples include:
- Neighbours being a nuisance or too noisy
- Vandalism and graffiti
- Drinking alcohol on the street
- Litter
- Begging
- Issues surrounding sex working
- Inappropriate use of vehicles and abandoned vehicles
If you have experienced anti-social behaviour, you should speak to your local neighbourhood policing team. They can investigate, provide support and advice, and help you handle the situation. Find your local neighbourhood policing team here:
Find Your Local Neighbourhood Policing Team
Or you can use a reporting form on the West Yorkshire Police website:
Or you can also report it to Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team:
0113 222 4402 (Available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9am to 5pm and Wednesday 10am to 5pm)
Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team
Or you can report it at your local Community Hub. Find your local Hub here:
If you are renting accommodation from a private landlord, you should report it to them first.
Drinking alcohol in a public place
There are rules in place by Leeds City Council called Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) in some areas of Leeds which make it an offence to drink in the street and you can be fined if you are caught.
The areas affected include:
- Armley
- parts of Burley
- Burmantofts
- City Centre
- Farsley
- Garforth
- Guiseley
- Harehills
- Headingley
- Horsforth
- Hyde Park
- Killingbeck and Seacroft
- Kippax and Allerton Bywater
- Little London
- Little Woodhouse
- Otley
- Pudsey
- Swillington
- Wetherby
- parts of Woodhouse
- Woodhouse Moor
- Yeadon
There are rules in place by Leeds City Council called Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) in some areas of Leeds which make it an offence to drink in the street and you can be fined if you are caught. The areas affected include: Armley Burmantofts City Centre Gipton Guiseley Harehills Killingbeck and Seacroft Little Woodhouse Woodhouse Moor and Little London.
Find out more on the Leeds City Council website:
Public Space Protection Orders
Noise
It is important to consider your neighbours when making noise. You cannot always avoid making some noise from your property, but it could be considered a problem if the noise levels are unreasonably loud and happening between 11pm and 7am for example.
Leeds City Council has an online complaint form for noise made between 8am and 5pm and they will get back to you to discuss your report, as quickly as they can, depending on how serious the noise is. They might ask you to complete a noise diary to note down the times you hear noise. If they gather enough evidence that someone is disturbing their neighbours, they may be able to take legal or enforcement action to stop the noise.
Leeds Council Noise Complaints
If the noise is at night between 5pm and 3.30am, and you want to urgently complain, you can call the out of hours number and they will discuss your complaint with you and decide how serious the noise is. They will take down your details and try to arrange for one of their teams to visit. If they are able to visit the site, they will ask for people to reduce their noise or end their event if it’s safe to do so. The person making the noise may have legal or enforcement action taken against them to stop the noise. The teams are not able to visit every noise complaint and your report may be passed onto the day team. They are more likely to attend if the noise is in a residential neighbourhood and if they get a number of complaints.
If the noise is caused by a business for example a pub or factory, you can report it to Environmental Licensing.
0113 378 5029 (Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4:30pm)
0113 395 0143 (Out of hours)
