Strikes and fly-tip havoc in 'Third World' city

FLY-TIPPING is wreaking havoc in Birmingham - and the city's bin strikes may last to spring.

- By Ed Chatterton

Union bosses said strikers voted to extend industrial action to March 2026 a year since the dispute began. Meanwhile tons of illegally dumped rubbish litter many suburbs.

Sal Watts, 34, a musician from Moseley, said: "It is an absolute scandal that this hasn't been resolved. If it happened in London they would have sorted it within days. It has left us living in Third World conditions.

"I'm ashamed to have friends and family... come and visit. The place has become lawless and the council cannot cope."

Liam Burgess, 41, of Hockley, said:

"Recycling hasn't been collected for months now but you feel guilty just dumping it among general waste."

Dave Hughes, who owns a steel firm in Saltley, said fly-tipping was a "nightmare".