'I used to drink in the real Garrison pub from Peaky Blinders in Birmingham - it’s a shame it wasn’t conserved'

Peaky Blinders fans flocking to the site of the real Garrison pub in Birmingham have been leaving disappointed after discovering a kitchen showroom in its place instead.  

Tourists have been turning up in droves hoping to get a picture outside the pub, which inspired the fictional boozer of the same name, in the Small Heath area of the city. But many puzzled fans have been leaving "gutted" at finding the site, said to have been the regular haunt of the real-life Peaky Blinders gang, no longer resembles a pub at all.

It is now a kitchen and bedroom specialist called Elegant, which opened at the century-old building on the corner of Garrison Lane and Witton Street around a year ago.

Brummies had been calling for someone turning the once-thriving boozer into a tourist attraction - especially with the renewed worldwide interest in Peaky Blinders following last week's release of the long-awaited Netflix film The Immortal Man.

And many turning up hoping to get a glimpse of the real Garrison say they wish they hadn't had bothered making the journey.

Peaky Blinders fan Louise Swann, 36, who lives in Birmingham, said: "I came here to take pictures of the pub as I'm a Peaky Blinders fan and watched all the series. But I was a bit disappointed to find it's not a pub anymore."

Local resident Glynn Jones, 65, who used to drink in the real Garrison pub, said: "They should have turned it into a tourist attraction. I used to play football in the park and drink in the Garrison but now it's a kitchen shop.

“There was the old pub sign there for a while but they built student accommodation upstairs and now the shop downstairs. But now you come down here disappointed because it's a kitchen place. There's not a lot you can do about it - it was a great pub as well.

"There's some Peaky Blinders murals in Digbeth but that's about it, the pub is a big part of the series, so it's a bit of a shame."

Another fan who left disappointed after travelling from Coventry said: "I wanted to do a bit of a tour doing the main locations now the film is out.

"I went the Black Country Museum a couple of weeks ago and that was really good as that was recognisably from the show. But this is a bit underwhelming to be honest, I wish I hadn't have bothered but I'm going to check out Digbeth now."

Another local resident Ali Khan, 33, said: "Meanwhile Manchester is cashing in on Peaky Blinders bars just because a bit of it was filmed there - when the whole show is about Brum. We really don't know how to market ourselves."

Lovepreet Singh, who works in the shop, said lots of people were still turning up in flat-caps to take photos of the shop and he even gives them tours of the place despite it now being a shop.

He said: "We've been here for around one year and we see many people in flat-caps coming and taking pictures. I know there used to be a pub here and we let them come in and they ask us all about the pub, but obviously it's a bit different now.

"I like Peaky Blinders - my favourite character is the main man Tommy Shelby - so it is nice to be attached to the history of the show."

Others expressed their disappointment on social media, where one person commented: "It's now a kitchen and bathroom shop in a rough end of Birmingham, don't waste your time."

Another added: "It needs to be reopened not as a real pub but as a tourist attraction."

A third commented: "Decided to go and see the real Garrison while travelling up to Liverpool. It's not quite the same as the show and I'd suggest you don't do the same. It was a bit gutting tbh - just not worth a visit."

Another said: "Think of the money they could have made from making it a pub now with the film coming out and having it all Peaky Blinders themed. Missed a trick there."

One web user put: "Such a shame really, could have made it look fantastic and been part of the sports quarter."