Infamous pub crawl that neighbours fear has become ticking time bomb

On a crisp Saturday morning in Headingley, the pavements are almost unrecognisable.

- by Nina Swift

The Skyrack pub in the centre of Headingly.

The crowds haven't yet descended, but the evidence of last weekend lingers; a discarded Hawaiian garland tangled in a hedge, the remnants of a tinsel cowboy hat flattened by a passing bus, and flecks of glitter stubbornly clinging to the slabs outside St Michael's Church.

It could be mistaken for a festival aftermath - only this chaos rolls through every weekend, all year long.

For decades, the Otley Run has held an odd pride of place in Leeds culture: a boozy rite rite of passage, a student classic, a fancy-dress fever dream threaded through Headingley's pubs.

But residents say the tone has shifted. What was once a mostly student affair has ballooned into what some now bluntly call "alco-tourism."

Dr Anna Douglas, chair of the Otley Run Action Group (ORAG), speaks frankly.

"Since Covid, we've seen unprecedented growth," she said.

"It's no longer charity pub crawling. It's coachloads of out-of-towners - stag and hen parties, birthday groups - coming from the North West, South Yorkshire, London, Bristol, even Norwich. We now regularly see 3,000 people on the Run, starting as early as 11am."

The A660, the artery of the route, bears the evidence.