Smell of decay hangs over bin strike Birmingham
NOVANEWS
Will Humphries
Every day looks like bin day in Birmingham. The trouble is, refuse collections are few and far between.
The city has been in the grip of a strike by bin collectors since June and mountains of rotting rubbish bags litter the streets. Some areas have had one collection in six weeks. The rat population has exploded and maggots writhe where flies have laid their eggs.
Residents say that sporadic collections by agency staff drafted in by Birmingham city council can come at any hour and so households leave bins and bags on the pavements all the time. No one wants to miss one. Rows of wheelie bins and refuse sacks are piled head high and in densely populated quarters the smell of decay catches in the throat.
Soiled nappies are piled outside front doors while people with c...