BIN strikes have triggered chaos with “rats the size of cats” infesting mounds of rubbish – with “no end in sight”.
Manic scenes unfolded along the leafy streets of Mosely, in Birmingham, today as residents hit out over the lack of refuse collection.
BPMRats the size of cats have reportedly been infesting mounds of rubbish in Mosely, Birmingham[/caption]
BPMLocals swarmed the bin lorry[/caption]
BPMPolice were called to the scene[/caption]
A bin lorry was swarmed by so many people it sparked enough concern from a local councillor to call the police.
Residents arrived carrying bursting black bags full to the rim in a desperate bid to ditch them.
As reported by the BBC, others were seen sprinting down the road with their bins.
Some residents pulled up with cars full of rubbish, which was then dumped out on the street.
West Midlands Police said two people have been arrested this week amid the strikes.
The force shut down the collection early today as chaos ensued and the lorry reached its limit.
It comes amid a clash between waste collector’s union Unite and Birmingham City Council over the scrapping of a “safety-critical role” and pay cuts has led to indefinite strikes.
But overflowing bins have caused utter carnage, with disruption set to “worsen”.
One resident told MailOnline they haven’t been able to get rid of their rubbish for two weeks.
“Everybody is in the same boat and desperate to get rid of their waste,” she added.
Another told the BBC on Wednesday: “People who aren’t residents are parking up and leaving rubbish outside of my house.
“It was very noisy with people honking, it wouldn’t be a problem if they were doing it in a decent way but the people who came here didn’t care.”
As locals, workers and shoppers desperately try to avoid the vermin-hit streets, cabbie Abid Hussain said: “The garbage is piling up, the vermin are coming out. It is disgusting!
“The city is filthy, it stinks. It is a health issue and the situation will only get worse.”
SelwynPics‘Rats the size of cats’ have been terrorizing locals[/caption]
BPMIt comes amid a clash between waste collector’s union Unite and Birmingham City Council[/caption]
Roland LeonOverflowing wheelie bins and black bags piled high in Birmingham rubbish[/caption]
SWNSResidents say their refuse hasn’t been collected for weeks[/caption]
The driver of 32 years slammed authorities for allowing Britain’s second biggest city to “go to the rats.”
Abid, speaking exclusively to The Sun, sighed: “It should never have come to this. People are terrified to come out.
“No one wants to see rats scurrying around all the un-emptied bins and the rubbish dumped in streets, alleyways and gardens.
“It is a terrible advert for the city where I have worked for more than three decades. I am a barometer for Birmingham and this is the worst it gets.”
Rodents likened to be “the size of cats” have been sighted by residents scurrying around vast piles of garbage that have built up since the start of the year.
Nearly 400 bin workers in the busy West Midlands city have been striking intermittently since January in the escalating row between bin collectors and the council.
As they began an all-out strike on Tuesday morning, our team visited to see how people were coping with the knock-on rat epidemic.
Abid said: “I’ve seen rats running around, they’re horrible, dirty creatures and they carry a health risk so no one living or visiting here wants to see them.
“It’s off putting and bad for business.
“I get that the bin men are genuinely seeking a change to their conditions and better pay and I welcome them doing that.
“But on the downside we are left with a rat-infested city because being bins are overflowing and not being emptied and it is causing a domino effect.”
Steven Owens, who is homeless, and living in hostels in the city centre, said: “I’m on the streets and I’ve seen rats the size of cats. It’s quite scary.”
The jobless IT analyst, 40, said: “They scurry around everywhere with all the dumped rubbish, the rats are running riot.
“It’s easy to blame the bin workers, they’re helping people by emptying their trash but the public should be helping too by putting their litter away.”
Street cleaner Peter Charalambous told how he has recently encountered rats as he goes about his daily work.
He said: “I’ve seen lots of rats, and they are quite big like cats, and grey coloured.
“It’s usually about 5am when I’m out working in the Colmore Road vicinity.
“One time a rat got trapped in the street cleaning equipment, and that was horrible, and I had to physically get the dead body out.”
Liane, who has lived in Birmingham since coming to the UK from America in 1967, told how heavy flooding at her property had caused a broken drain which rats had crawled into.
She said: “I never saw them but could hear them scratching and squeaking under the flipper boards.
“It was so horrifying and alarming, they are a real health hazard but we finally got rid of them.”
Liane fears the rat situation “will get worse the longer the strike goes on.”
“I have a horror of rats, surely everyone else does.”
West Midlands Police said today: “We were called following reports of people dumping rubbish in the road. We continue to liaise with the local authority.
“We have a duty to keep people safe and ensure the road is clear and safe to use.’Stopping or restricting the collection of waste is considered a risk for public health and safety in the community and a matter for all public agencies including policing.”
In a statement earlier this week the force said: “In this time, two people have been arrested.
“One man was arrested for drugs possession on Monday and has been referred for drug treatment.
“The second man was arrested on Tuesday for obstruction, he was cautioned.
“We will continue to attend sites across the city to ensure there are no breaches of the peace and bin lorries are able to leave or return to sites in a safe and timely manner.”
AlamyThe industrial action was sparked by Birmingham Council’s decision to axe certain roles[/caption]
AlamyResidents claim they can smell the stench while walking down the street[/caption]
Roland LeonTaxi driver Abid Hussain warned that ‘people are terrified’[/caption]
SelwynPicsVermin the size of ‘small cats’ were seen scurrying around the streets[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
