For decades, donning a costume and attempting to complete the Otley Run has been a rite of passage for students living in Leeds.
The pub crawl includes around 15 pubs, depending on who you ask, starting at Woodies Ale House on Otley Road in Headingley and finishing a couple of miles south in the town centre, if participants get that far, which they usually do don’t you
For as long as the tradition has existed, locals have enjoyed seeing the mismatched Super Mario characters, groups of sexy lifeguards and the odd 6-foot-3 rugby player dressed as Marge Simpson.
But now anyone tackling the Otley Run may have more than a hangover to contend with afterwards; he could also be fined £1,000. Leeds City Council has said it will start cracking down on anti-social behavior in the booze rush after complaints from residents increased.
“It was a fun thing and a well-known feature of the area, and it didn’t cause too many problems,” said Al Garthwaite, local councilor for Headingley, Hyde Park and Woodhouse. “As a councillor, I had no complaints about it.”
But since the pandemic, the number of drunken costume groups has exploded and a different, more problematic demographic has come in, causing constant and sometimes serious problems for those who live and work in Headingley. Garthwaite said: “The groups seem to be getting bigger and we’re finding that they’re male-only groups, adult males from their late 20s all the way up to their 50s.”
He said these groups, many of whom are stag parties, have started coming from all over the UK on organized trips. British Transport Police have reported more people getting off the train drunk an hour earlier, he added.
“They basically create a trail of destruction. These men are probably Mr. Nice Guy at home, they probably have families, jobs, but they become Mr. Nasty Guy when they’re all together, to get drunk.”
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Olympia Agorini, room manager at the Box, one of Headingley’s liveliest bars, said she had noticed a difference in her four years there. “Saturdays have always been busy but now the clientele is difficult. There are a lot of middle-aged men in London, and they don’t behave. They don’t care that they were banned because they are going back to London. They have no affiliation with Headingley or respect for the area. It shouldn’t be happening.”
Problems reported to the council and the police include littering, broken glass, vomiting, public urination and more serious offenses such as harassment of shop and bar staff, sexual harassment of pedestrians and flashing, including around children.
Garthwaite, who is lead adviser on ending violence against women and girls, said she had also had reports of numerous similar incidents and had held meetings with local residents and Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel to discuss antisocial behavior. “A lot of young women have told me they don’t go to Headingley especially on a Saturday, so they don’t go to the shops, they don’t go to where they live.”
Otley Run participants: In the past, the run was seen as ‘a fun thing’ by the locals. Photograph: NB Press
A student reported being so harassed by a group of men that she ran into traffic to get away from them, while an elderly woman said the men blocking the streets meant she no longer went to mass in the cathedral on Saturday evenings.
Pubs now turn away more inebriated groups. The Original Oak, one of the biggest pubs on the route, turned away 98 people last Saturday and have been given a radio to warn others further down the route of the worst offenders.
Garthwaite said no one is trying to cancel the Otley Run, but more needs to be done to protect residents. “The police have asked for funding to be able to increase patrols. The police are on patrol, but their numbers have been severely cut, and if they’re called for an emergency, they’re not there to stop things from happening,” he said.
A municipal crackdown would be possible because the area is covered by an order for the protection of public spaces. Although not previously enforced, the council and police have the power to impose fines of up to £1,000 on anyone who causes a public nuisance. Councilors are also looking at a common code of conduct for all bars to empower other customers to report bad behaviour.