Shop owners confronted by 'pimps' and forced to clear used condoms from car park daily amid spiralling prostitution problem. Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners.
You can check out at any time. More info. Used condoms are stuffed down drains, syringes ditched in planters and cider cans litter the streets. Welcome to Soho Road; one of the city's busiest streets, but one marred by daytime prostitution, anti-social behaviour and drug abuse.
Here, sex workers - some in the grips of drug addiction - sell their bodies for cash from as early as 8am. Their "pimps" have even confronted shop owners trying to document the ongoing issues, it has been claimed. The major strip has been gripped by prostitution for yea rs - but it's only getting worse. The girls will wait for business owners to shut up shop before 'luring' men from the main thoroughfare and into a car park on the back. Read more: Revealed - The worst areas for stalking as 22 crimes a day reported to police.
That's when business starts. From condoms and wrappers to syringes and needles, shop owners are then left to clear up the remnants as they return to work every morning. And shoppers, especially those with families, are being 'driven away' by the overt problems - and locals, too, feel unsafe.
Some are even planning to move away from the area amid the problems with sex workers, anti-social behaviour and begging. 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 spoke to business owners about the spiralling problem- which they say is driving away customers, and, for those who do visit from afar, tarnishing their first impression of the city.
