We went to Bearwood Jazz Club last night and we heard the police sirens screaming out on our way down there. But it wasn't just the usual panda bobbies looking to separate the bruisers punching each other's lights out on payday, as happens from time to time. No, this was over 50 of the finest the boys in blue could muster, including a number of armed officers. Suddenly, the whole world's news media now seems to have descended on to our sleepy suburb. Instead of a peaceful out of town commuter spot, we find ourselves host to an international sex trafficking trade with girls from across Europe locked into the Cuddles massage palour during the evening to work, and taken away during the day and locked in a house. The excitement continued through to this morning when a man claiming to be the 'cleaner' arrived in a 4x4 Mercedes and found himself "assisting the police with their enquiries." Interestingly enough, although The Birmingham Evening Mail carries banner headlines about last night's raid headed "Police swoop in battle to stamp out vile trade" in the same edition they carry their own advertisement for.... Cuddles Massage Parlour!
Funnily enough, Cuddles isn't the most notorious brothel in Bearwood. Local people have been complaining to no avail to the police for years about the nocturnal activities of The Fun Place in Bearwood. They also openly advertise their 'venue' in the local press, and they have even got their own website (not for the more sensitive of you to view, unless like Pete Townsend and myself you are carrying out research into this "vile trade"... and certainly inadvisable if you are connecting at your place of work).
