Female officer suffers serious head injuries as Leeds fans throw bottles at cops during title celebrations

A FEMALE police officer suffered a serious head injury as Leeds United fans hurled bottles at cops.

Up to 7,000 supporters had gathered in the city's Millennium Square for a third day to celebrate Premier League promotion when Sunday's incident happened.

Some Leeds fans threw bottles at officers, who made nine arrests for public order offences.

The officer was rushed to hospital after being struck by a bottle during the attack.

Several other officers received minor injuries.

Fifteen members of the public where also injured during the disturbances, with police blaming "a small minority of people".

BOTTLES HURLED

Leeds were promoted to the top flight as champions after beating Derby County 3-1 on Sunday.

West Yorkshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Oz Khan said: "On Sunday (19 July), almost 7,000 people gathered in Millennium Square in Leeds; whilst the vast majority of fans were enjoying themselves and celebrating, there were a small minority of people who began to throw bottles at police officers.

"A female officer suffered a serious head injury and was taken to hospital for treatment, a number of other officers suffered minor injuries and a further 15 members of the public were injured."

He added: "Violence towards police officers will not be tolerated and we deployed an appropriate police response to ensure that the festivities concluded safely."

Cops flooded Millennium Square from 12pm yesterday as large crowds massed to toast Leeds's Championship title win.

Crowds were dispersed just before midnight last night.

A huge clean-up operation was underway in the city centre to remove piles of beer cans and litter following yesterday's celebrations.

Leeds secured promotion to the top-flight on Friday after West Brom lost 2-1 to Huddersfield.