Former undercover officer paid £15k to informant

A former undercover West Midlands Police detective has revealed he once paid £15,000 to a police informant.

Ronnie Howard was speaking after figures obtained by BBC WM showed the force spent £1m on informants between April 2011 and March 2016.

Now retired after 30 years in the police, he said he supported their use as "a cheap way to clear crime".

At one time Mr Howard had 20 informants on his books.

Listen to the full interview with Ronnie Howard on BBC WM.