Birmingham City fans warned to ‘park at your own risk’ as car cannibals strip vehicles on match day

It has become an all too familiar story. An excited football fan parks on one of the roads around St Andrew’s Stadium in Bordesley and heads inside to watch a match.

Upon returning, they find that their pride and joy is now virtually unrecognizable, with windows smashed, hoods and headlights removed, wires hanging and parts broken. After informing the police, their insurance and arranging the move, they are left out of pocket and looking for lifts.

On May 4, Dr Tim Merchant fell prey to ‘car cannibals’ after his 2023 Toyota Yaris was targeted as he watched his team, Norwich, play the Blues. The police investigate, and in the meantime the doctor relies on racing to get to work in community care.

Read more: Car cannibals strip doctor’s Toyota Yaris as he watches match at St Andrew’s

On January 16, Chris Pugh faced a huge excess insurance bill after the bumper and bonnet were stolen from his Corsa in Keeley Street, near St Andrews. He told BirminghamLive: “It’s been a big problem for the last couple of years. “Parking near the ground is done at our own risk.

“I’ll have to go through insurance. It’ll still cost £500 in extra charges, unfortunately.”

On 8 May 2023, Paul Need’s £23,000 Peugeot 3008 was stripped of its bumper, bonnet, fog lights, headlights and panels after he also parked it on Garrison Street. The 59-year-old, from Kingstanding, said: “You have 50-60 cars parked there on the day of the match. I want people to be aware.”

Mr Need said: “It had not been broken into. They hadn’t touched the back of the car. They disconnected one of the battery terminals to stop the alarm.

“There’s an alley by the Garrison Pub and people were asking us if we were OK and if we wanted to get up home. They were shaking their heads and said they couldn’t believe it.”

Birmingham City Football Club said car cannibalism was primarily a night game issue and they have provided fans with safer parking since the issue came to light at the start of the new year.

The club said they are working on safer parking when we have more access to the wheel site. They are also trying to find a way to provide bus service from the city next season so fans can park in the city and ride or come by train and ride.

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Detective Superintendent Jim Munro, from Birmingham Police, said: “In the West Midlands, we are on a mission to tackle vehicle crime – it is one of our priorities here in Birmingham. We have a number of police operations going on now in Birmingham and it is one of my priorities, leading CID in the city and we are looking to unmask these criminals and bring them to justice.

“We have seen a 12% reduction in vehicle crime in the last 12 months and we continue to focus on arresting people and bringing them before the courts. And this has seen massive growth. In March of this year, we arrested over 200 people. persons in connection with the vehicle offence.

“I’m very aware of the effect this crime has on people and their lives, and that’s why it’s our focus and our priority.”