LBC's Tom Swarbrick investigates the Birmingham bin strike as 'mountains of rubbish' fill the streets
7 April 2025, 17:12 | Updated: 7 April 2025, 17:37
LBC's Tom Swarbrick has travelled to Birmingham to investigate the chaos caused in England's second city by the ongoing bin strike.
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Members of Unite in Birmingham launched an all-out strike last month in a dispute over pay and jobs, which is causing misery for residents who say they face a public health crisis.
The council declared the dispute a major incident last week in a bid to increase collections of bin sacks.
But with an estimated 17,000 tonnes of rubbish now lining the streets, the city has become a breeding ground for vermin.
And as the Birmingham bin strike continues to cause havoc in England's second city, Tom Swarbrick headed there to investigate...
Read more: Labour-run Westminster council plots to ‘seize 11,000 empty homes’
Tom Swarbrick investigates Birmingham's bin strikes | LBC
The government claims the decision to declare a major incident will led to more crews and vehicles being brought in to deal with the mounting piles of rubbish on Birmingham's streets.
But walking through the streets of Birmingham, Tom described the "mountains" of rubbish, the "disgusting, fruity smell" as he met with locals who said they feared for their children's safety as trash continued to pile up.
"Every street we've been down is covered, spilling out with rubbish," Tom said.
"What has really struck me is just how completely unhygienic this is, this is going to be a health hazard."
Tom met with a rat catcher, who has been visiting at least 17 houses a day since the strike began.
"We are on month two of these bin strikes now and there is no end in sight," Tom continued.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has described the council’s decision to declare a major incident as “disastrous” and pledged to "defend Birmingham's refuse workforce to the hilt."
Speaking outside Birmingham City Council House, leader John Cotton said he was "determined to take every measure we can to address the very serious scenes we now see play out in certain parts of our city".
He added: "It's regrettable that we have had to take this step, but we cannot tolerate a situation that is causing harm and distress to communities across Birmingham.
"I respect the right to strike and protest, however actions on the picket line must be lawful and sadly the behaviour of some now means we are seeing a significant impact on residents and the city's environment.
"Unless we declare a major incident and deploy the waste service's contingency plan, then we would be unable to clear the backlog of waste on the streets or improve the frequency of collections."
Residents have complained of hoards of “rats the size of cats” running riot across the city amid the dispute.
