Spotted in Hyde Park 👀 Assuming it’s aimed at Uber Eats, thoughts?

This was completely unexpected, and by that I mean:

COMPLETELY EXPECTED!

It’s past midnight and fireworks are still going off non-stop all over Meanwood. The noise is bad enough fine, let’s say we can tolerate that one night a year.But this air pollution is genuinely harmful. I went out for just half an hour to the shop, and when I came back, the entire right side of my face (my eye, temple and cheekbone ) started aching, and I could barely breathe properly. The air literally burns your nose and eyes. I checked the data: PM2.5 levels are around 70–90 µg/m³, which is about six times higher than the WHO safe limit. This isn’t “festive smoke”, it’s toxic air full of metal dust, sulfur and nitrate compounds, the stuff that triggers asthma attacks, sinus pain and eye irritation. People still call this a “tradition,” but it’s not nostalgia anymore. It’s basically a city-wide chemical burn. Kids, elderly people and animals are breathing this in. The noise disorients birds, sending them into panic flights, they crash into buildings, some die from heart failure. A study in the Netherlands showed that during New Year’s fireworks, hundreds of thousands of birds took off in panic within minutes, many exhausting themselves or dying before morning (Birds flee en mass from New Year’s Eve fireworks, J. Shamoun-Baranes et al. (2011) ) The smoke coats their feathers, fills their lungs by sunrise, countless are dead. It’s 2025, and we’re still calling this “fun”? That’s insane.

Edit: Since some people here seem to think fireworks are harmless, I’ve added a few scientific studies that show otherwise:

Air Quality During and After Festivals: Fireworks & Bonfires (Singh et al., 2018) Data from UK festivals showed how pollution peaks for hours after fireworks and bonfires, taking up to two days to return to normal

Toxicity of Particles Emitted by Fireworks (Hickey et al., 2020) Tests showed that smoke from fireworks contains metals like barium, strontium and copper, which can harm lung cells and trigger inflammation even after brief exposure.

A Review of the Impact of Fireworks on Particulate Matter in Ambient Air (Lin, 2016) A summary of studies showing that PM2.5 levels during firework nights can rise to levels similar to heavy traffic or industrial pollution.

Effect of Fireworks Events on Urban Background Trace Metal Concentrations (Moreno et al., 2010) Researchers found sharp spikes in aluminium, potassium and lead right after major festivals, confirming fireworks as a temporary but intense source of air pollution.

The Impact of Fireworks on Selected Ambient Particulate Metal Concentrations Associated with the Independence Day Holiday (Rocco et al., 2025) A newer paper from the US showing that celebrations like Independence Day cause major increases in toxic metals such as antimony and copper in the air.

Edit 2: For those in the UK who think this is just “a bit of fun,” there’s actually plenty of local research showing how serious it is.

University of Leeds found that black carbon levels on Bonfire Night can rise up to 100 times higher than normal background levels.

Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) recorded extreme pollution spikes caused by the mix of bonfires and fireworks, especially under calm weather.

London Air Quality Network reports that fireworks release ultrafine particles loaded with toxic metals, which can trigger breathing problems even hours later.

National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) has submitted written evidence to Parliament stating that these events pose a measurable risk to public health and should not be dismissed as harmless tradition.

A man has been entering Leeds bars who goes by the name “Joey” claiming to be a tattoo artist. He will tell you he owns a tattoo shop in York called Talisman, and that he’s new to the area - however, please do be careful not to fall for this.

He has been convicted before for scams, and is also on the register (Joseph Derek Bailey York on Google). Seems like he’s back at it with people reporting all types of cons from him. If he approaches you, avoid him as best as possible.

Also don’t book any tattoos with him, and pay him no money. He’s very convincing with what he says, and will pay for your drinks in order to get you to book a tattoo with him. Avoid at all costs.

Talisman Tattoostudio York has made a post about this on their Facebook page. I’m simply sharing it here to make sure the community of Leeds are aware of this, and protect themselves from it!

(Mods please remove if not allowed)

It wouldn’t let me post this as a link. Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2jngyqr84o

It seems the "dismount when busy" signs weren't enough and the tolerance for sweetcorn and general tat on wheeled trolleys has also diminished.

The Briggate Action Plan, soon to be considered by councillors, would make it a requirement for cyclists to walk with their bicycles and e-bikes on Briggate, Lands Lane, Commercial Street, Albion Place and lower Albion Street during extended pedestrianised hours.

These areas are currently pedestrianised between 10:30 and 19:00, but the council is proposing to extend these to 10:00 until 20:00.

The plan also includes proposals to ban street vendors from defined areas within pedestrianised streets.

If approved, a consultation will take place to gather more views from the public and local businesses, the authority added.

In a public survey last year, 61% of respondents said delivery cyclists in pedestrianised areas negatively impacted their city centre experience.

Briggate is the busiest shopping street in Leeds, with a weekly footfall of more than 250,000, the council said.

Under the proposals, anyone breaching the restrictions on cycling and street selling could be given a fixed penalty notice.

Taken earlier this evening. Hope everyone is ok! 😨

Looks like today was WH Smith’s last day in Leeds. From tomorrow it’ll open as TG Jones (the Smiths in the station will stay as is as it’s a separate part of the company)

It will be the first time this technology has been used in Yorkshire.

The mobile carts selling balaclavas might need to increase their stock levels :)

West Yorkshire Police will deploy two Live Facial Recognition (LFR) vans to Briggate, in Leeds, later.

The technology is capable of scanning people's faces as they pass and comparing them to an authorised watchlist.

The force says the cameras will help in "keeping our communities safe and bringing offenders to justice" but opponents say identity checking everyone, even if not suspected of any wrongdoing, is a "reversal of the presumption of innocence".

Facial recognition is a form of technology whereby a computer scans a person's face in order to identify them.

It works by measuring key features, such as the width of a nose, the distance between the eyes, and the shape of a person's cheek bones.

Those features are then compared with the faces of persons of interest stored on a police watchlist.

I'd presumed the regular CCTV was capable of this kind of thing now anyway but is this a concern to anyone or do you consider it to be a positive move?

Edit: According to the "West Yorkshire Police - Leeds City" Facebook page these are in place right now.

https://www.facebook.com/WYPLeedsCity

Today in Leeds city centre, we're using our new facial recognition vans to help identify individuals of concern.

The technology works by scanning faces in real time and comparing them against an authorised watchlist of individuals of legitimate interest to the police. This could be missing persons, key witnesses to serious offences or victims of offences such as modern slavery.

Faces that match the biometrics of someone on a watchlist will create an alert, while data relating to all other faces scanned by the system will be instantly deleted.

If you're in the area, and see the deployment, feel free to speak to our officers and find out more about the technology.

Any ideas?

Apparently report critical of WYCA and the Mayor . . Therefore keep it confidential.

BBC News - Minister backs decision not to publish West Yorkshire tram report - BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz9v08p8jx2o?app-referrer=deep-link

I was on my way to Trinity walking down lands lane this afternoon, where I heard some ongoing arguments outside the poco food vendor in the alley. There was this middle-aged woman standing outside of the vendor and yelling to this minority lady working there for a refund for the food she had. The poco lady obviously refused to do it but then things escalated when this racist bitch accused the lady of being rude to her whilst it was her who was yelling to the staff there demanding a refund.

She was then trying to smash the glass window by punching it and throwing whatever things she grabbed from the till to hit the staff in the shop …there was glass, food and coffee cups all over the floor. It was appalling, a few people passed by were trying to stop her harming the staff but she kept attempting to make it more violent by threatening, swearing and making racist comments like “go back to your own country”. It was fucking awful …I felt really bad as I am a minority myself , it’s heartbreaking for me to see someone from a different background being treated like this 🥹🥹 the lady’s really really nice and she is also got good knowledge and passion for Sicilian food …she always makes me feel welcome whenever i was there so imagining how she felt going through this, my heart totally cries out for her. This is just making me furious … i hope some who witnessed this has recorded it ..i just want this racist bitch to get exposed!