Britain’s ‘WORST’ street full of drug addicts, killers and thieves laid bare – as locals reveal the REAL truth
Share:
IT is considered one of the roughest roads in Birmingham where even the local councillor admits murder is no surprise. But despite the begging, drug addiction, fly-tipping and crime, most locals on Hunters Road in Lozells refuse to give up on the area.
![[Birmingham pub landlord Howard Derdar (left) with his brother Mulie]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/brother-mulie-behand-bar-eritrean-953894738.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
More than 5,000 crimes have been reported in the area over the past year - around 14 a day. In September local councillor Waseem Zaffar said Hunters Road is a crime hotspot - saying he "wasn't shocked" by a murder there. But one businessman has just re-opened a historic pub as the solitary business on the road that society forgot.
![[Sophia Lawrence has turned a 'dirty' pub into a hub for the local Caribbean community]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/local-resident-sofia-lawrence-58-953894636.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Howard Derdar, 38, said: "When I bought this closed-down pub the plan was to open an off licence. "But when I thought about it, I knew that would be the easy way out. "What this place needs is a sense of community, somewhere welcoming to all, where people can hang out.
![[Mum-of-five Hayley welcomed the pub and said the last business to open was a brothel]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/local-resident-hayley-west-37-953894633.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
"But I feel like the Labour councillors around here don’t want this business. "Their government talks about growth but as a businessman I don’t feel supported, I feel targeted.". The only thing to have opened up on Hunters Road recently are more and more Homes of Multiple Occupation (HMOs).
![[Inside the re-opened pub]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/pictures-supplied-sun-howard-showing-953894746.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Their tenants, often with drug and alcohol issues and housed by landlords at a premium rent, are blamed for some of the area’s many problems. So it came as a shock to many when Howard and his family re-opened The Observatory, a pub going back 120 years.
![[The pub gives Brummies a taste of traditional Eritrean food]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/gv-typical-eritrean-dish-food-953894631.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
