THE disturbances in Lozells a year ago have united one community as never before, but they claim they are still waiting for answers from police as to why hundreds of their 999 calls went unanswered.

The Austin Estate residents' group was formed in the wake of the troubles and has thrived over the past year to unite a multi-ethnic community stretching across more than 700 households in roads around Copthall Road, Handsworth Wood.

In the disturbances last year, in which 23-year-old IT worker Isaiah Young-Sam was fatally stabbed, residents claimed their pleas for help fell on deaf ears from police who were overstretched a mile away in Lozells.

Manjit Singh, residents' group spokesman said: "We have had two major public meetings with the police since last October who have told us that their call handling system could not cope with the amount of calls they received.

"Yet a year on we've had no assurances that this will not happen again. All they have told us is there were 600 incidents reported and there are 6,000 hours of CCTV footage of what happened, but residents have not been told yet how many people were arrested, charged or convicted after the disturbances.

"This information would mean a lot to local people. We are a positive group who wants to work with the city council and the police and we want to move forward. Should there be another incident, will their call system be able to handle the volume of phone calls?"

Residents have agreed to give police a "wish list" of future measures they want put in place. They will meet neighbourhood police officers at a public meeting today at St John Wall Catholic School, Oxhill Road, at 7pm.