We ask Birmingham: What can be done to combat gun crime in the West Midlands?

Birmingham is said to be the new gun capital of Britain after firearms offences increased significantly last year - surpassing that of London's in overall figures. I'm here on the streets of the city centre to get people's thoughts on what can be done to combat this trend.

Office for National Statistics data recorded an 86% increase in firearms offences in the West Midlands in the 12 months before March last year, with 1,089 gun crimes, up from 585 the previous year. The surge saw the West Midlands, which has a population of 2.9 million, overtake London, which is home to 8.8 million people where 1,087 gun crimes were recorded in the same period.

Vicki says: “I would probably say it's probably poverty. Obviously we know that local areas are quite rife in poverty as is most of the country at the moment and that is often the cause of crime and that's often a cause of people kind of falling into lifestyles that would lead them into something like crime.“

Scott says: “I think there seems to be a lot more focus on just petty punishment of people once they've committed a certain crime and there's absolutely no focus on anything to prevent it so there are no programs for people when they're young to make sure there's somewhere for them to be like clubs or anything like that.

"I've met with and speak to a lot of people who do a lot of youth clubs and do a lot for the communities but they're charities. These aren't really funded very well and it's been basically thrown back to communities to deal with yourself and anything that's just punishment afterwards which is knee-jerk and doesn't work.”

Hannah says: “Most people tend to put it down to how they've been brought up, their values and stuff like that but I genuinely think it's the person like you could have had the worst upbringing but be the most caring, respectful person ever.

"I think it does just come to your surroundings, I feel like your surroundings, the people you surround yourself with is a big part. I think the influence of social media is a very big part as well. Personally, like I've seen it first hand, people that I've grown up with have taken different paths in life and that does all boil down to the people that they surround themselves with really and what they see glorified on social media.”