Watch as the urban explorer looks into the city’s former police station, once the target of riots

An urban explorer went behind the scenes of an old Birmingham police station. The historic Handsworth West police station was sold for £770,000 almost five years ago.

But it remains unoccupied at the site at 61-65 Holyhead Road. YouTuber Ryan Kirby of KIRBZ VIDS looked around the two-story site in 23-minute exploratory footage posted online last month.

The latest images also show two cells, which have been converted into an interview room and a monitoring room. “It’s pretty weird,” said Explorer Ryan. “I thought it would be interesting because this place is supposed to be demolished. I’m trying to document what I can.”

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The old station, believed to have been built in the 1930s, was unmanned when it was targeted and set alight during the Soho riots in August 2011. The Crown Prosecution Service brought cases against 339 riot suspects in the 12 months from summer. disorder, which resulted in 276 convictions and a total of 365 years in prison.

The former police station has a pair of semi-detached houses, which were used as additional offices, which are interconnected on the first floor. There is a surfaced parking area to the rear, accessed via a drive between the two buildings, as well as single storey garage and storage.

Bond Wolfe, who hosted an auction where the building was sold in September 2019, said: “The accommodation is configured to provide a range of offices, meeting and interview rooms on the ground floor, together with a kitchen, WCs, shops and with other offices. WCs and former cloakrooms on the first floor There is further storage in the basement and a boiler room.

Demolition plans were underway, with plans to convert the 6,446 sq m site into residential and commercial units in 2022 – but the building still stands. West Midlands Police said at the time that the money raised from the sale would go back into the police.

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