Rubbish piles high in city as bin strike drags on

Daily life in Birmingham amid an ongoing bin strike has become "tremendously difficult", residents said.

Piles of bin bags have grown high on some city streets, as a pay dispute between workers and the city council drags on.

Roads have been overrun by rats, many hit by cars and lying dead in the road, people told the BBC.

As the weather turns warmer and the stench of rotting waste increases, neither side is giving in with the Unite union warning the dispute could run until the summer and council leader John Cotton ruling out giving bin workers pay concessions.

Residents spoke about a "plague of rats and cockroaches" and in Balsall Heath, three miles south of the city centre, Matthew Howes watched foxes piling in to tear open the black plastic bags.

He described "the stench of rubbish hanging over the whole area" and said he feared rats might bite children in a nearby playground.

Dan O'Brien, who lives in the centre of the city, saw four dead rats on his morning walk on Thursday, in a scene he described as "absolutely shocking".

Neither of the men said they blamed the bin workers.

Mr Howes pointed his finger at austerity measures in place since the financial crisis while Mr O'Brien said: "I empathise with workers' rights but day-to-day life is tremendously difficult."

In Hockley, about a mile north-west of the city centre, an area where bin bags are stacked six feet high, questions were asked about the local authority.

"Why has the council left it to this point to not end the dispute?" Stephen Message asked.

As nature takes over the streets, it's not just rats, cockroaches and foxes.

Judith Warley, also in Hockley, said she had seen bags being attacked by seagulls and cats, with the plastic starting to split.

Ms Warley, who uses a mobility scooter, said bags were piled waist high - in some places completely blocking the pavement.

One pest control company reported a 75% increase in calls for its help.

William Timms, from WJ Pest Solutions, said: "There are rats in front gardens, back and gaining access because of the bins being left out."

He said the city was "going to be inundated" and described the situation as unbelievable.

Mr Timms advised people to try to keep their rubbish bags high off the ground and away from walls so the rats could not get on to them.

But some areas have escaped the piles of rubbish.

People living in Cotteridge and Bournville said while their recycling was ignored, waste had been collected on schedule every week.

What had been a city-wide issue is now the focus of MPs on both sides of the Commons.

The Labour MP for Edgbaston, Preet Gill, has repeatedly described the situation as approaching a public health emergency, while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch attacked Labour with the line: "If you vote Labour, you get trash."

Unite's national lead officer, Onay Kasab, called for clarity on key points including the number of workers affected by the pay dispute and the amount of money they stand to lose – both are issues the union and council have failed to agree on.

At the city council, Cotton claimed making pay concessions to the largely male bin collecting workforce could reopen equal pay issues that have beset the authority.

Meanwhile the council advice to residents continues to be to put household waste out as normal, as talks between the authority and the union carry on.

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