Pledge to visit all Birmingham bin strike streets

A council has pledged to visit all streets hit by the Birmingham bin strike by the end of the week.

Refuse workers have been taking action in a dispute over job losses with the action now in its sixth week.

It has led to rubbish mounting up on streets across the city, with Birmingham City Council facing a huge backlog.

The authority said its recovery plan was aiming to deal with "100 per cent of wards by the end of the week".

See more updates on this story and others across Birmingham and the Black Country here

Waste spilling from bin bags on Avon Street in Sparkhill

A council spokesperson said: "We are now well into our recovery plan to address the backlog of waste caused by the ongoing industrial dispute.

"As of yesterday, we have visited approximately two-thirds of the city's 8,200 streets.

"We are adopting a different approach that does not involve the regular collection schedules, with the aim of having dealt with 100 per cent of wards by the end of the week ahead."

On Avon Street, in Sparkhill, bags of waste were piled up on the pavement, with waste, including nappies, spilling from torn bin bags.

'Dangerous'

Resident William Turner, 73, who has lived on the street for 34 years, said the bins have not been collected for three weeks.

"It's unhealthy and dangerous," he said.

"They ask us to leave it out and then don't collect it. The council tax is being paid and up to date [but the service] is below zero. I would like to see a refund with some interest."

Bin bags outside doorways and lining the pavement in Avon Street

Mr Turner, who said he supports the refuse workers, added the two sides must now come together to reach a resolution.

The conflict centres on restructuring plans that trade union Unite says are threatening the jobs of more than 120 refuse collectors.

The council says plans will modernise the service and save £5m a year.

On Monday the union said there had been further contact with the council, which had been positive, but there was no breakthrough in finding a resolution.