'Call in the Army' to clear 17,000-ton waste mountain

CALLS are growing for the Army to be used to clear away thousands of tons of rubbish in Birmingham amid fears that the stinking waste might stay piled on pavements for months.

- By Jonathan Walker Whitehall Editor

Pest firms claim rats as big as small dogs are being spotted "on a daily basis" in the UK's second-largest city.

As the Tories focus on the chaos in Labour-run Birmingham ahead of local elections, Sir Keir Starmer yesterday sent local government minister Jim McMahon to meet council chiefs and demand they agree a deal with the striking bin staff's union. His spokesman said: "We want to see an agreement reached immediately."

Ayoub Khan, independent MP for Birmingham Perry Barr, called on the Government to send in the Army, saying: “The 17,000 tons of rubbish...is not going to be cleaned up even if the strikes were called off even today. It would take weeks possibly even months.