SOPHISTICATED ‘bullet beater’ has been hailed for helping to slash gun crime in inner city Birmingham – to zero.

SOPHISTICATED ‘bullet beater’ has been hailed for helping to slash gun crime in inner city Birmingham – to zero.

The ShotSpotter Gunshot Location System can alert police to the scene of a shooting within seconds and is used across America to tackle the country’s huge gun crime problem.

Since being installed in December, the system has recorded only one incident of gunfire – and that was the sound from a weapon police used to stop a car which was being pursued.

The bangs it has detected, which residents would previously have mistakenly thought were gunfire, were proved to have had other origins, such as fireworks.