Police to crack down on illegal traders at midnight market in Small Heath

Mark Gough reports from Small Heath in Birmingham

Police and council officials in the Small Heath area of Birmingham say they will crack down on illegal trading at a midnight market.

Pop up stalls appear selling food and clothes around the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and it goes on until daybreak when fasting begins again.

Thousands of people visit the stalls - but people nearby say they're fed up with the traffic, the noise, the litter and with roads being blocked.

That, in part, has prompted the local council to look into shutting some stalls down.

Some local residents say the stalls are affecting their daily life

"Entrances are blocked," said one local resident.

"Any call for emergency - ambulances, fire service," he added.

Another said it "personally affected him"

"I can't get off my road," he said. "Because I'm on a one way road, you can't get onto a country road."

Disruption can be so bad, another resident said, they struggle to get to work. "I finish work in the morning," he said. "And then I've got the school run and what not. But even in the evening, tonight for example my son hurt his hand and I had to call a taxi, because there's no way an ambulance would have got to my house."

The council have said some traders are trading from private land at the front of the shops and they don't necessarily need permits.

A spokesperson from Birmingham City Council said: "Birmingham City Council is aware of this activity and that some street trading is taking place without the consent from the Council. 

"Officers from our Regulation and Enforcement Division are developing an action plan to tackle the impact of any illegal activities. We are working in partnership with colleagues at West Midlands Police on these matters."

Many traders say they've informed the Council of their presence.

But many traders say they are licensed, and will continue to work in the area.

"We've rented a private property," he said. "The Councils already informed of my presence in here but not on the pavement."