Unauthorised Absence

Birmingham Detectives have been operating in Birmingham and the West Midlands for almost 20 years.

• Geologically, Birmingham is dominated by the Birmingham Fault which runs diagonally through the city from the Lickey Hills in the south west, passing through Edgbaston, the Bull Ring to Erdington and Sutton Coldfield in the north east.
• Birmingham is located in the centre of the West Midlands region of England.
• To the south and west of the city lie the Lickey Hills, Clent Hills and Walton Hill, which reach 1,033 feet (315 m) and have extensive views over the city.
• The City of Birmingham forms a conurbation with the largely residential borough of Solihull to the south east, and with the city of Wolverhampton and the industrial towns of the Black Country to the north west.
• Together these make up the West Midlands Urban Area, which covers 59,972 ha (600 km2; 232 sq mi) and has a population of 2,284,093.
• Birmingham's diverse population uses a wide variety of religious buildings in the city.
• There are two other cathedrals, St Chad's, seat of the Roman Catholic Province of Birmingham, and the Greek Orthodox Dormition of the Mother of God and St Andrew.
• The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Midlands is also based at Birmingham (with a cathedral under construction).
• The original parish church of Birmingham, St Martin in the Bull Ring, is Grade II* listed.
• A short distance from Five Ways the beautiful Birmingam Oratory was completed in 1910 on the site of Cardinal Newman's original foundation.
• The oldest surviving synagogue in Birmingham is the 1825 Greek Revival Severn Street Synagogue, now a Freemason's Lodge hall.
• Although Birmingham grew to prominence as a manufacturing and engineering centre, its economy today is dominated by the service sector, which in 2003 accounted for 78% of the city's economic output and 97% of its economic growth.
• Two of Britain's largest banks were founded in Birmingham – Lloyds Bank (now Lloyds Banking Group) in 1765 and the Midland Bank (now HSBC Bank plc) in 1836
• In 2009, Cushman & Wakefield stated that Birmingham was the second best place in the United Kingdom to locate a business, and the 14th best in Europe.
• Tourism is also an increasingly important part of the local economy.
• Birmingham has major facilities such as the International Convention Centre and National Exhibition Centre.
• The Birmingham area accounts for 42% of the UK conference and exhibition trade.
• Birmingham sporting and cultural venues attract large numbers of visitors.
• Birmingham's three Universities, (Aston University, University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University) and two University colleges have over 65,000 students and employ around 15,000 staff.
• The City of Bradford is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England.
• Birmingham is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, 8.6 miles (13.8 km) west of Leeds, and 16 miles (25.7 km) northwest of Wakefield.
• Birmingham became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897.
• Following local government reform in 1974, city status was bestowed upon the wider metropolitan borough.
• Birmingham has a population of 293,717,making it the thirteenth-most populous city in the UK.
• Birmingham forms part of the West Yorkshire Urban Area conurbation which in 2001 had a population of 1.5 million.
• Birmingham is part of the Leeds-Bradford Larger Urban Zone (LUZ), the third largest in the UK after London and Manchester.
• Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Birmingham rose to prominence during the 19th century as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool.
• Birmingham was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the 'wool capital of the world'.
• Birmingham has fine Victorian architecture including the grand Italianate City Hall.
• Birmingham has emerged as a tourist destination with attractions such as the National Media Museum and Cartwright Hall.
• Birmingham has faced similar challenges to the rest of the post-industrial area of Northern England, including deindustrialisation, housing problems, social unrest and serious economic deprivation.
• Since the 1950s Birmingham has experienced significant levels of immigration, particularly from Kashmir.
• Birmingham has the second highest proportion of Muslims in England and Wales outside London.
• Birmingham's city centre is the UK's second largest retail centre.
• Birmingham has the country's busiest shopping centre, the Bullring
• Birmingham has the largest department store outside London, House of Fraser on Corporation Street.
• Birmingham also has one of only four Selfridges department stores in the country.
• Birmingham has the second largest branch of Debenhams in the country.
• In 2004 Birmingham was ranked as the third best place to shop in the United Kingdom.
• Birmingham is a major transport hub on the motorway, rail, and canal networks.
• Birmingham is served by a number of major motorways and probably the best known motorway junction in the UK, Spaghetti Junction.
• The nearest airport is Birmingham International Airport, located in the Borough of Solihull to the east of the city.
• As of 2008, Birmingham's airport is the sixth busiest by passenger traffic in the United Kingdom.