MOBOs after party at Leeds bar descends into mass brawl

Witnesses reported seeing chairs and bottles being thrown in the early hours incident at Bar Soba on Merrion Street in the city centre, where several celebrities were letting their hair down following the glitzy bash at the First Direct Arena on Wednesday night.

One woman said: “The whole club was in a massive brawl. Literally hundreds of bottles, tables, chairs the lot just being thrown everywhere. Glass and blood everywhere.

“I can’t even explain how bad it was.”

Another witness described it as being “like a warzone”.

Thousands of people had flocked to the arena for the MOBO (music of black origin) awards earlier in the evening.

Among the stars thought to have been at Bar Soba were grime artist Stormzy and hip hop duo Krept & Konan, but it is not known if they were caught up in the trouble.

A spokeswoman for Bar Soba said the venue had agreed to stage the event with an outside promoter, who was managing it.

The night had been going well until it was “marred slightly by an altercation at the end of the night” she said.

“The agreement was that we would shut the party down at the first sign of trouble, and that’s what we did,” she added.

Chief Inspector Fran Naughton, of Leeds police, said officers were called at 2.50am after several 999 calls about a large disturbance.

She said: “Officers attended and dispersed the crowd and remained in the area for some time to ensure there were no further issues.

“Although a number of callers reported seeing people injured, no-one came forward to officers to report being assaulted and no arrests were made.

“If anyone does want to report any offences arising from this incident, we would urge them to contact us.”