A MAN brought chaos to sections of the city centre for hours to when he threatened to jump to his death yesterday.
The man stood on the top level of Pershore Street Car Park opposite the Arcadian and Bullring Shopping Centre for nearly three hours before police negotiators talked him down.
A network of roads was forced to close around the busy entertainment and shopping area, causing buses to be diverted and a number of surrounding car parks were cordoned off.
The man, who is believed to have climbed up just before 1pm, was eventually talked down to safety at 3.35pm.
Thousands of frustrated people congregated in the area as several plain clothes officers tried to talk to the man, who was seen pacing up and down and texting at times.
As the man refused to move, bus marshalls were seen trying to advise passengers of the best way home, tourists were left standing on the roadside with their suitcases, residents could not get in to their flats and some businesses were emptied of customers.
Attendants at Arcadian Car Park gave six-months-pregnant Jing Wang a seat when she started feeling unwell.
Mrs Wang, aged 31, said: “My husband has parked the car in the same car park the man is in and we can’t go there. I’m supposed to be at the hospital at 3.45pm for my appointment.
“I feel bad but I’m a bit better now.”
Aunt Aliya Khan, aged 20, from Small Heath, was trying to reach Heartlands Hospital to see her newborn niece, but was forced to wait with her ten-year-old nephew Aman, as they couldn’t return to their car park.
Ms Khan said: “We had come into town for just one hour as I had to get my nephew some sports stuff.
“I just got a call from my brother saying my niece had just been born at Heartlands.
“We are stuck here as my car is parked in one of the car parks which has been closed off.”
Meanwhile, angry traders based inside the police cordon claimed the ‘attention-seeking’ stunt had cost them thousands of pounds in lost custom.
Manish Patel, assistant manager at the Leisurebox in Pershore Street which thrives on young visitors to its ice rink, bowling alleys and amusement arcade, said: “With it being school holidays we had a lot of bookings lined up and were banking on this being a very busy day for us.
“We’ve definitely lost out on some custom, we might have lost a couple of grand possibly.”
Shop worker Hamza Ahmed had a perfect view of the incident from the window of R&R Warehouse on the corner of Bromsgrove Street, opposite the car park.
“Police told me to get inside the shop and to stay inside until further notice.
“We’ve probably lost out on £1,500 from having to close.”
