“Disgraceful” Audi thieves struck a “secure” car park in Birmingham after a £40,000 car was looted and left on the bricks. BirminghamLive readers described the incident as “disgusting”, while others claimed: “It’s safer to leave your car on a public street.”
Shocked motorist James, 57, who was visiting friends in the city, returned on June 5 to find the carnage at the multi-storey NCP on Newhall Street in the Jewelery Quarter. The A3 saloon had broken windows and a cut console. turning off and stealing the steering wheel.
James shared images of the car park’s secure entrance being breached, meaning it was accessible without a QR code. Responding to the story on Facebook, one reader wrote: “Shameful thieves so when you work hard you can’t afford a car.” Another person tagged the theft: “Disgusting.”
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Another person wrote: “This is supposed to be a pretty secure car park, you can’t just walk in without a ticket, you have to scan your season ticket or day pass to even get in, they’d know who can’t and what cars are left at that time.”
But someone else said: “It’s not safe at all – anyone can walk in and out.” Another social media user claimed the Range Rover was stripped last week. He added: “It’s safer for you to let your car out on the public street.” West Midlands Police said they are investigating the theft and have requested CCTV from the car park “in an attempt to identify the offender.”
An NCP spokesman said: “We take all criminal activity in our car parks very seriously and work hard to prevent people from entering our car parks for reasons other than parking. We are very sorry that this incident occurred when a customer was parking on our car.” Unfortunately, crime is a problem that we and all businesses that have buildings open to the public are trying to prevent.
“We try to make our parking lots as safe as possible, but when our security doors are vandalized, we have to go through the repair process only to have them vandalized again. We know we’re not alone.” Due to concerns we have met with West Midlands Police, Birmingham Council, local BIDs and the Outreach Team regarding anti-social behavior and vehicle crime in Birmingham car parks.
“We also had a meeting with the BID Manager for Colmore BID regarding the same issues. On 5 June 2024 we had a meeting with the Birmingham City Center LCSP Group which included West Midlands Police, Birmingham Council and the BID groups. This meeting discussed vehicle crime issues and anti-social behaviour.
“We have further meetings booked with BID groups and with West Midlands Police over the next two weeks. We can’t always say we will be able to stop people walking or driving onto our site with the intention of committing a crime, our patrol staff is limited.” in how much they can apprehend criminals because they are car park operators.
“We have recruited additional staff for our Birmingham site and have made sure they cover important shifts to deter this type of crime and we will continue to do everything we can to stop this type of crime, along with dealing with competent people who can help reduce crime in this community.”
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