THIS tiny alley is where you’re most likely to be stopped and searched by Merseyside Police, according to recent figures.

Almost 90 stop and searches were conducted on Roe Alley, which links Wood Street and Fleet Street in the city centre, in the three month period between May-July this year.

Just a few hundred feet away is the second most likely place – Brooks Alley, off Hanover Street – which was the location of almost 40 stop and searches during this same time-frame.

A police officer has the power to stop and search you if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that you are carrying:

  • illegal drugs
  • a weapon
  • stolen property
  • something that could be used to commit a crime e.g a crowbar.

The grounds the police officer must have should be based on facts, information or intelligence or could be because of the way you are behaving.

Between May 1-July 31, Merseyside Police officers conducted 4,230 stop and searches.

Of these, 1698 were listed as being in Liverpool, 767 in Sefton, 292 in Knowsley, 282 in St Helens and 270 in Wirral. The remaining 921 did not have a specified location.

Outside of the city centre, the areas where the most searches took place over the three months were Belmont Road in Anfield and Pendle Drive and Gorsely Lane, both in Litherland.

Here’s where you’re most likely to be stopped and searched in your area:

Wirral

Wirral had fewer stop and searches than any other Merseyside region.

The places with the most stop and searches were Oliver Lane (Birkenhead) with 5

River Street and Bank Street (both also in Birkenhead) had 4 each.

Knowsley

Liverpool Road had the highest number of searches in Knowsley (10), with Princess Drive and Bluebell Lane (Huyton) and Wervin Way (Kirkby) all having five searches take place.

Liverpool City Centre

The city centre is called Liverpool Hub Four by community policing teams, and this also includes Aigburth and Toxteth.

The most stop and searches here took place in these locations:

Roe Alley (off Wood Street) – 87

Brooks Alley (behind Primark) – 38

Slater Place (off Parr Street) – 32

Duke Street Lane (at the end of Hanover Street) – 26

Back Bold Street (behind the shops on Bold Street) – 24

Kirkdale, Vauxhall, Walton, Orrell Park, Croxteth and Gillmoss

These areas are referred to as Liverpool Hub One by Merseyside Police, and this also includes Everton and Anfield.

The most stop and searches in Hub One took place in the following areas:

Belmont Road (Anfield) – 30

Spring Bank Road (Anfield) – 10

Melrose Road (Kirkdale) – 9

Twickenham Street (Anfield) – 9

Kensington, Tuebrook, West Derby, Old Swan, Knotty Ash and Dovecot

These areas are covered by Merseyside Police’s Liverpool Hub Two team.

The most stop and searches in Hub Two took place in the following areas:

Alexandra Close (Kensington)- 10

Adair Road (Clubmoor) – 7

Childwall, Garston, Speke, Woolton, Gateacre and Wavertree

These parts of the city are covered by the Liverpool Hub Three team – as well as Cressington and Netherley.

The most stop and searches in Hub Three took place in the following areas:

Fenton Close (Speke) – 6

Dauntsey Mews (Belle Vale) – 4

Sefton

Most of Sefton’s stop and searches took place in the south of the borough.

The areas with the highest number were:

Pendle Drive (Litherland) – 24

Gorsey Lane (Litherland) – 19

Howard Close (Litherland) – 16

Daniel Close (Litherland) – 15

Thornton Road (Bootle) – 11

Near to Botanic Gardens (Churchtown) – 10

St Helens

The parts of St Helens with the highest number of stop and searches were:

Manning Street – 15

Near to St Helens College – 8

Salisbury Street – 6