BIRMINGHAM has overtaken Manchester to become the worst place for smash and grab car crime in the UK. The city topped the league in a survey carried out by Autoglass, the UK's biggest windscreen repair and replacement company.

Newcastle/Gateshead came in third place followed by Glasgow and Cardiff. The figures are based on damage to windows on vehicles caused by car crime taking into account reported and unreported attacks to the police. The area inside the M25 (not included in the new survey) accounts for 22% - one in five of all Autoglass side window replacements.