Witches attempt to leave Midlands city (5)
I believe the answer is:
coven
'witches' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'attempt to leave midlands city' is the wordplay.
'attempt' becomes 'try' (synonyms).
'to leave' suggests deleting specific letters.
'midlands city' becomes 'coventry' (I've seen this before).
'coventry' with 'try' taken away is 'COVEN'.
(Other definitions for coven that I've seen before include "Gathering of witches" , "Witches' set" , "collection of bewitching women" , "Some wise women" , "Company of witches" .)