Bin-strike city plagued by rats the size of cats

THE situation in a city hit by bin strikes has become so bad that residents report seeing rats as big as cats running freely in the streets.

- BY SIMON MURPHY

Nearly 400 refuse workers in Birmingham walked out indefinitely on Tuesday in a dispute with the cash-strapped city council over pay and jobs.

The latest action comes on top of on-and-off strikes all year, which have left black bags piling up in residential streets - only to be ripped open by vermin looking for food.

One worried mum said she saw a huge rat the size of a cat.

Ida Elbuka, 45, who has a two-year-old son, says: "I'm not even exaggerating. It was massive, that rat was having a field day. It scared the hell out of me, I had to cross to the other side of the road."

Rat catcher Will Timms, of WJ Pest Solutions, has been so busy he has not had a day off in two weeks.

The 47-year-old, who has been in pest control for 11 years and has a personalised "RAT" numberplate on his car, says the rubbish situation in Birmingham has become ridiculous.

Amid the strikes the council has still been collecting, Will says.

But he adds: "Before the bin strikes... you wouldn't see black bags on the side of the road. The bin men were quite good at doing it. Since February though, it's just become a complete joke.

"They've got agency staff but that does not cover it... they're just concentrating on the main roads. The rubbish has gone up unbelievably.

This newspaper went out on the streets with him on Friday, where we came across a mountain of bin bags in a street just below a "no dumping" sign on the wall warning of a penalty of up to £20,000.

In one spot, near West Brom's Hawthorns football stadium, Will reckons no rubbish has been collected for four to five weeks.