Blues fan has car stripped while attending match

A Birmingham City fan has had his car stripped while attending a match.

Chris Pugh parked his car on Keeley Street, a residential road near St Andrew's stadium, on Tuesday night.

He posted a photo of the car on X and said: "Spend an hour bemoaning Blues have nothing up front, get back to my car which has nothing left up front."

A BBC investigation last year found that cars parked in Birmingham city centre had been stripped of parts in a spate of separate thefts.

Drivers from other areas of the city have also reported car-stripping, with some thefts happening during the day and from outside their homes.

"It's frustrating that [this is] something that's happening quite a lot, and not much seems to be being done," said Mr Pugh, who lives in Northfield and works at an accountancy firm.

Mr Pugh said he parked his black Vauxhall Corsa at 19:00 GMT and went to watch Birmingham City play Hull City in an FA Cup game.

The car had been stripped when he returned about three hours later, with the headlights and number plate among the parts that had been stolen.

Mr Pugh said he reported the crime online, but he later received an update that the case had been closed as there were no further lines of inquiry.

He said he felt "an element of anger" about the idea that "the thieves have gotten away with it."

West Midlands Police said it was not able to identify who was involved at this stage but would act on new information it received.

The force added that officers regularly carried out warrants at suspected 'chop shops'.

Mr Pugh uses his car to commute and he hopes he can get a temporary vehicle through his insurance.

He is also still planning to get to Birmingham City's away game against Stoke City this weekend.

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