The once-thriving Birmingham street now ‘forgotten’ and used as a toilet

Your first impression of Cannon Street probably depends on how you approach it.

Enter the 150-metre stretch from New Street and it looks quite nice with tall buildings and a busy office block. Walk the other end near Cathedral Square and you are greeted by an empty former Starbucks.

Either way, you’ll soon find this is a road Birmingham has forgotten. Almost frozen in time, it has half a dozen empty units and, according to people I spoke to, a huge problem with drugs and anti-social behaviour.

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I wasn’t expecting much before arriving — the stretch’s Google Maps preview features what appears to be a homeless person. But almost instantly I found a situation much worse than I could have imagined.

Within ten minutes, I saw two people using parts of the street as a toilet. Somebody else stumbled past me with two beers in either hand and I witnessed a woman looking through a bin before declaring “there’s f*** all in it anyway”.

Locals told me the problems are not new. One shop worker explained the once-thriving area had gone downhill with little hope of a revival.

The employee even alleged the former Starbucks was recently taken over by squatters. The incident, she claimed, prompted an evacuation of the street after nearby traders’ fire alarms were set off.

“When you [walk down] you see the homeless and it smells really badly,” she said. “They urinate and all sorts there. They are usually just laid there. It does feel forgotten.”

Homelessness remains a critical issue in the city, with high levels of deprivation and the cost-of-living crisis playing a role in driving people to distressing situations. Birmingham City Council has set out a major strategy to tackle the problem but it could take until the end of the decade.

The woman added there had been an increased police presence around the area recently. That is something I also heard on a separate visit to nearby Priory Queensway. It does appears officers are trying to clamp down on anti-social behaviour but they still have plenty of work to do.

Cannon Street used to be a thriving part of the city benefiting from the nearby City Plaza shopping centre. But it is virtually deserted these days with stores closing and what feels like a rate of knots.

Holly Newey, who has worked in the area for six years, said her shop was among those closing. She explained part of the reason was down to a lack of footfall, despite its central location just minutes from the city’s main train station.

“There are homeless people and people on drugs sleeping in shop windows every day,” she said. “It just seems to have got worse. Maybe it’s too late to do anything.”

But Lesley Watkins who was out shopping with her grandson said she had never seen any problems. She said Cannon Street was probably dealing with the same issues as other places in Birmingham.

She added: “Sometimes you get the odd person that’s homeless sleeping here but I’ve never seen trouble. There’s loads of empty shops but it’s not just here.

“All the high streets are dying. Generally you can have a lovely street and next door there can be a horrible street. It’s a sign of the times sadly.”

A sign of the times perhaps. But as I observed three people sat down shouting at each other I think I’d seen about enough.

With its closed shops and forgotten character, Cannon Street now seems little more than a slightly dodgy city centre cut through. If I’m honest I think I’d rather walk the long way.