Giant rats and stench: There's no end in sight for 'Binmageddon'

Mountains of rubbish blight the streets of the UK's second biggest city with no end in sight to a dispute that has been going on for weeks.

Wherever you stand on the contentious issue of Birmingham's bin strikes, the reality remains the same.

Almost every residential area is plagued by overflowing bins. Rats and other vermin are taking over the streets, and fly-tippers are exploiting the strike by dumping rubbish in open spaces.

More than a million people have been affected. Some say they are being held to ransom over the fate of a small number of refuse collectors. While others accuse the bankrupt city council of snatching money from essential workers due to its own financial mismanagement.

"The sights are absolutely shocking," explained Dan O'Brien, who lives in the city centre. "It's such a terrible situation."

The 27-year-old said dead rodents mowed down by cars were becoming common, adding he had seen four in just one morning.

Javed Haider, from Sparkhill, also told me he had seen rats around bin bags and believed it had become a "health hazard".

He added that there was also a problem with fly-tipping.

"There's spots where people just come out of their cars, dump it and they go away," he said.

Student Milan Karki, who is originally from Nepal but currently lives in Balsall Heath, likewise said he was afraid the current situation could lead to health problems.

"Where people live, it should be clean," he said.

Their experiences are not unique and the BBC has heard from dozens of people with similar stories.

Their message is often the same: things can't carry on like this.

More than 400 bin workers who are members of the Unite union have been striking on and off since the beginning of the year.

The dispute is over Birmingham City Council plans to downgrade some staff and reduce their pay as part of wide-ranging measures to shore up the troubled authority's finances.

It means neighbourhoods are going weeks without collections, sometimes resulting in 6ft bin bag stacks and "rats the size of cats" scurrying around.

William Timms, the owner of WJ Pest Solutions, told the BBC he had experienced a 75% increase in calls.

"There are rats in front gardens, back, and gaining access because of the bins being left out," he explained.

A powerful stench is already present in some areas as spring beckons and temperatures begin to increase.

But despite the pleas of residents, a compromise appears some way off, with the most recent round of talks on Thursday ending without an agreement.

It means there's no end in sight for the dispute, which could stretch long into the summer.

The city has been here before.

There were big rows between refuse workers and the local authority in 2017 and 2019.

On both occasions, there were weeks of missed collections and rubbish strewn across city streets.

But some people have told the BBC the current situation is as bad as they've ever seen it.

And this time, there appears to be very little goodwill between the two sides.

On Friday 14 March, there were ugly scenes at the council's Atlas Depot in Tyseley, in the south-east of the city.

A BBC reporter who was present at the scene said five police vehicles and a police helicopter were dispatched following reports of waste trucks being blocked from leaving.

Striking workers on the picket line insisted they were only stopping lorries from leaving if they had safety concerns.

Days earlier, there were separate claims about a bin worker being struck by an object at the site.

It prompted Labour council leader John Cotton to condemn "violence on picket lines".

He added people had a right to go to work without fear of intimidation, but the union hit back and accused the local authority of trying to "smear" the behaviour of refuse workers.

Elsewhere in the city, there were scenes likened to "binmageddon" when a mobile refuse collection service descended into chaos after being swarmed by people desperate to dispose of their rubbish.

A council refuse truck was approached by so many residents as it attempted to travel along Anderton Park Road in Moseley that a local councillor concerned about safety called police.

An officer at the scene told the BBC it was a waste of resources but said he understood people's anger, as they had to live in the area.

Follow the BBC's coverage on the Birmingham bin strikes:

• Rubbish piles high in city as bin strike drags on
• Refunds over abandoned garden waste service
• 'We cannot move on offer to striking bin workers'
• Residents disposing of waste at tip due to bin strikes

Izzy Knowles, the Liberal Democrat councillor for the ward, spoke to the BBC after the service was called off two hours ahead of schedule.

"People were going to the wagons to put the rubbish in themselves, which you shouldn't do," she said.

"Somebody was going to get hurt."

Later in the week, private security was deployed at another collection service.

It's not just residents expressing concerns about the impact of rotting rubbish and unruly pests on their health.

A West Midlands Police statement said stopping the collection of waste was considered "a risk for public health and safety in the community" and a matter for all public agencies, including policing.

This language was echoed by local Labour MP Preet Gill, who said she feared a "public health emergency", while Tory MP Wendy Morton said "squeaky blinders rats" could invade her nearby constituency.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, meanwhile, is pointing the finger at the Labour-run council and using the situation to attack the government ahead of local elections.

A warning that has perhaps attracted less attention, however, is one issued by West Midlands Fire Service.

Area Commander Gemma McSweeney told the BBC there had already been a "small increase" in rubbish fires in recent weeks, and she feared a big blaze outside someone's home could have "devastating" consequences.

"Our biggest concern at the minute is where we see a build-up of rubbish outside anybody's property," she explained.

Administered by the largest local authority in Europe, the UK's second city has a long history as an industrial and economic powerhouse.

But the past few years have seen Birmingham lurch from crisis to crisis, and its long-documented financial woes are at the heart of this dispute.

As part of massive savings, it wants to remove waste recycling and collection officer (WRCO) roles, something Unite claims is safety critical and would cost affected staff £8,000 a year.

The council disputes the union's figures, claiming just 17 staff would lose the maximum amount of about £6,000.

The local authority insists 80% of the workforce have already accepted alternative offers, including promotion to driver roles, voluntary redundancy or moving to street cleaning teams - with just 41 still yet to agree terms.

Whichever way you cut the numbers, a solution appears far out of reach.

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