The pictures that reveal the shocking scale of Birmingham’s bin-strike crisis ...Middle East

Birmingham’s bin-strike woes escalated this week when police were called to a mobile waste collection service that became swarmed by locals desperate to get rid of their rubbish.

In Moseley, a collection lorry was called off early by police after it was ambushed by people with rubbish bags as it attempted to travel along Anderton Park Road.

The so-called Mobile Household Waste Centres are typically used by residents’ to get rid of extra household waste or bulky items each week – but as regular bin collection has ground to a halt, the lorries have been inundated by people from across the city coming to drop off their waste.

Ongoing strikes by refuse workers have seen mountains of bin bags pile up on residential roads, complaints of a persistent stench, a surge of fly-tipping in areas surrounding the city, and warnings of “a plague of rats and cockroaches” on Birmingham’s streets.

Nearly 400 council bin workers began an all-out indefinite strike on 11 March as part of an ongoing row over jobs and pay, with the United union saying the council could end the dispute “by agreeing to pay a decent rate of pay”.

Neither Unite nor Birmingham City Council appear ready to budge, with the council warning the strikes could persist until summer and saying it had made a “fair and reasonable offer”.

Locals told The i Paper that the strikes were “depressing the community” and “everybody’s disgusted”.

Vijay Singh, who lives in the Balsall Heath area, had to pay around £600 for pest control to get rid of mice in his home. “That’s what makes me ill… I’m suffering,” he said.

The strikes were sparked in January by changes to the pay structure for refuse workers, in particular the removal of a higher pay grade for 150 bin workers responsible for health and safety during rubbish collections.

The city has been blighted by on-off strikes in the months since – Thursday marking the ninth day since an indefinite strike began on 11 March. Waste collection is intermittent as the strike rolls on, and recycling collection on an indefinite pause.

Labour MP for Edgbaston Preet Gill has written to Birmingham City Council, warning of her fears of an imminent “public health emergency” if the situation is not rectified.

“Residents are reporting that the waste is driving a plague of rats and cockroaches,” she said, warning that with warmer weather, the situation could get worse.

Unite union said the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role was “safety critical” and brought safety expertise to an “often dirty and dangerous job”. The union said workers impacted would lose an average of £8,000 a year – a figure disputed by the council.

Birmingham City Council has said the changes being made to waste collection are “part of the much-needed transformation of the service” and are a “crucial part of our need to become financially sustainable” after the council effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023.

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