Sex work, drug use and anti-social behavior in a Birmingham suburb is leaving business owners and residents exasperated and scared. They are calling for the police and local council to take action. Years of prostitution , begging and anti-social behaviour are driving shoppers away and making residents want to leave the area, say business owners in Birmingham's 'red light district'.
Sex workers - many struggling with drug addiction - come to Soho Road in Handsworth to sell their bodies, sometimes as early as 8am. Their "pimps" have even confronted shop owners who have tried to document the ongoing issues, it has been claimed. Syringes and needles are left strewn around, as well as used condoms and wrappers, reports Birmingham Live.
The strip - one of the busiest roads in Birmingham - has experienced issues with prostitution for years - but it's said to be getting worse. The sex workers will generally wait for business owners to shut up shop before picking up men from the main thoroughfare and taking them to a car park further back. Business owners are then left to clear up the remnants left behind as they return to work every morning.
And shoppers, especially those with families, are "driven away" by the overt problems, claimed business owners - and locals, too, feel unsafe. Some are even planning to move away from the area. As BirminghamLive visited the Handsworth street where locals say "you can't walk", the problem became immediately apparent.
Huddles of men chugged from open beer cans in the street and, after a short walk down a back street off the main road, a used condom could be seen discarded in a car park. We've had daytime prostitution issues, from 8. It's not good at all. Mr Patel recalls how he was confronted by "pimps" after trying to document issues troubling the area. The girls have seen us and gone to them and they've come out. That's the kind of thing you're expected to work with. He claims a sex worker "mugged" a man of his wallet outside the shop only two weeks ago.
