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Is Birmingham to blame for Bromsgrove crime?

Sophie Millward
BBC Hereford & Worcester
Gavin Kermack
BBC News, West Midlands
BBC A woman with dark hair, tied back, smiles at the camera. She is wearing a black top and standing in front of a sink, what looks like shampoo bottles and towels.BBC
Thieves broke into Maria Papageorgiou's hair salon twice in the space of two years

On the front door of Maria Papageorgiou's hair salon, a prominent sign reads: "No cash left on premises".

She has been taking extra precautions since The Hair Lounge in the village of Wythall, in the Bromsgrove district of Worcestershire, was broken into twice in as many years.

"It's hard as a small business," said Ms Papageorgiou. "It's just killing us, to be fair."

The local Conservative MP, Bradley Thomas, recently told Parliament his constituents were "sick and tired of violent criminality and lawlessness creeping over the border from Birmingham".

But do people in the area agree that cross-border crime is to blame?

Listen on BBC Sounds: Is crime from Birmingham spilling over to Worcestershire?

"It definitely happens," said Deborah Horsley, who lives in the neighbouring village of Hollywood. "I think some of the crime is from out of the area, but I don't think all of it is.

"I've lived in inner-city Birmingham... I know what it's like to come from a deprived area.

"People judge you sometimes for that. They have an opinion about things that isn't always true."

A woman with neck-length chestnut hair, wearing a flowery top, stands on a street smiling at the camera.
Hollywood resident Deborah Horsley thinks blaming crime solely on people from Birmingham is unfair

"I think it's a bit rough just to blame Birmingham," said Michael Cheal, another Hollywood resident.

"I'm quite sure that not only Birmingham, but with the motorway so close to us, we could be infiltrated from many places."

For Ms Papageorgiou, where the criminals live is not important.

"I've moved all my products from the front as well, because when they broke in last time they robbed all my products," she said. "They robbed all the hairdryers, all the straighteners.

"So if anyone wants to come in and buy a product we [often] have to buy it in for them."

An elderly man with short white hair, a white beard and dark glasses is wearing a check shirt under a grey sweater.
Michael Cheal thinks criminals could be coming into the area from a number of places

Thomas told the Commons it was "hard to believe that proximity to Birmingham is not a factor in this".

Shortly before Christmas, Vicky Pearce's business, Hollywood Fish and Chips, was broken into and money taken.

"Stole our till, stole our tip jar and off he went," she explained. "It was such a shame for the girls that a couple of days before Christmas, all their tip jar had gone.

"I'm not too sure where it's coming from.

"It has changed over the years.

"We were never worried about being round here, whereas now after we've had the burglary, it's just shook us up a little bit to be honest."

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