Forensic officers became a familiar sight in Beeston

Police, Army bomb disposal experts and the world's media all descended on the city last week when it emerged it was home to three of the London bombers.

Homes and businesses were evacuated in Hyde Park and Beeston, with many people forced to spend days away from home.

City politicians said they shared the "common sense of shame and dismay".

This may have been our city's greatest test of character since the Second World War Leeds political leaders

The message was relayed to the city's residents in a full-page advert in Thursday's Yorkshire Evening Post.

In a statement, the Lord Mayor and leaders of all the political parties thanked the people of Leeds for the strength of character they had shown since the London attacks.

They said people removed from their homes did not hesitate to support one another and paid tribute to the generosity of neighbours and volunteers in the community.

"The unshakeable determination of all communities to stand together in the solidarity that we saw during the two minutes silence on Millennium Square and other parts of the city was particularly moving and said more than a thousand words," the statement read.

Political leaders said they would not shirk difficult questions

"This may have been our city's greatest test of character since the Second World War.

"In the coming days, weeks and months we will not shirk from asking ourselves the difficult questions about how some members of our community could carry out such atrocities.

"We will find those answers together, in a way that builds on the warmth, understanding, decency and common sense that reflect our great city's true spirit."

The statement appeared on the same day that houses around Alexandra Grove in Hyde Park were re-evacuated while officers disposed of the substances found in a flat there.

Residents were forced to spend about three hours away from their homes while experts carried out a controlled burning.