A frustrated mum has said “rats as big as cats” are stalking local streets attracted by fly-tipping and an ongoing bin collection strike in Britain’s second biggest city. Birmingham has been suffering from piles of trash building up because of an ongoing dispute between the Labour-run city council and refuse collectors.
Now a 56-year-old mum, who chose not to be named, said it was “bad enough” dealing with her own overflowing bins, but now fly-tippers were adding to the carnage. She told BirminghamLive: “We’ve got rats, it’s getting really bad. Rats the size of cats. It’s been like this for weeks now.”
“It’s not people who live in the area who are dumping rubbish here, it’s people from outside[the estate]. They come late at night and think no-one is watching – but someone is always watching.”
Birmingham City Council said fly-tipping was “incredibly harmful” and a spokesperson said: “It is carried out by environmental criminals that have no regard for our neighbourhoods or well-being and there is no excuse for this behaviour.”
The authority said it was “aware of the increasing issues around Birmingham” due to the ongoing strike and promised to “clear waste when possible”.
It added: “We have plenty of lawful options for people to responsibly dispose of waste or unwanted items, such as household recycling centres and our popular free-to-use mobile waste centres.
“We are committed to investigating these incidents and prosecuting fly-tippers whenever possible. We encourage residents to provide reports and evidence for us to do so.
“The most effective way to provide this information is by contacting our waste enforcement team directly.”
Birmingham City Council recently issued an appeal for calm amid claims its staff trying to leave depots to collect rubbish faced intimidation and abuse.
Police officers have been deployed outside each of the four main depots to keep the peace.
Pickets have been filmed engaged in ‘go slow’ walks in front of bin trucks trying to leave depots, in a tactic designed to disrupt services, with police stepping in on one occasion to force workers off the road.
Two people were arrested this week in and close to the depots – one for drugs possession, another for disruption.
