Fly-tipping concerns due to council strike action

The BBC visited Lurgan to assess the repercussions of the ongoing strike

Concerns are growing about fly-tipping in the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon area as bins are going uncollected due to strike action by council workers.

Councillor Mark Baxter says people are now becoming desperate and are resorting to illegal solutions to the rubbish piling up at home.

Four weeks of industrial action over pay and conditions began on 15 August.

Bin workers are among the members of three trade unions - GMB, Nipsa and Unite - on strike.

People living and working in the council area are starting to see the repercussions.

Paula McConville, who owns a cafe in Lurgan, said one of her colleagues saw a rat on Tuesday.

"It won't be long before they're out because that is where they will go looking for rubbish and food," she said.

Annemarie Rushe, who owns a hair salon in Lurgan, said: "I have never seen this before.

"The rubbish is just outside and we have nowhere to put it."

Mr Baxter, from the Democratic Unionist Party, said he had already received two phone calls about illegal fly-tipping.

"It is going to be a real issue, that's why we need to get it resolved as quickly as possible."

He added that he was particularly concerned with "overflowing" medical waste bins.

"To me that's not acceptable- it is now a public health issue," he added.

'Scattered across fields'

Johnny Matthews, who has a farm near Lurgan, discovered five bin bags on his land.

"We are turning up in the mornings with bin bags in behind hedges, scattered across fields, just general household waste that has now ended up in my land," he said.

"I am going to have to go through this now and make sure there is no household waste in this in case any of our cows get poisoned."

Banbridge councillor Kevin Savage, from Sinn Féin, urged people to be responsible.

"The waste will have to go somewhere, we can't have it being fly tipped all over the countryside," he said.

BBC News NI's Evening Extra has heard that some people are turning to private companies and are paying to have their rubbish collected.

'Things can't go on'

More than 1,000 council members are taking part in the strike action and action short of strike.

The council, one of Northern Ireland's largest, has said all of its services will be affected.

Leisure centre worker Helen spoke to Evening Extra about why she was involved.

She said that after the council amalgamated seven years ago, there were still examples of staff on different rates of pay for the same job.

The council has said all of its services are affected by the action

A single parent with a 21-year old daughter at university, she said it was getting harder to "keep afloat".

"The cost of living, the gas, the oil, the food costs are getting out of control," she said.

"They are increasing week-by-week, month-by-month and our wages aren't reflecting this.

"It has to be done - things can't go on the way they are going."

Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Council said it deeply regretted the ongoing disruption caused by the industrial action.

"We want to resume negotiations with the joint trade unions to resolve issues and urge them to return to the table," a spokeswoman said.

A spokesperson for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs said unauthorised dumping of waste or allowing someone to do so was a criminal offence.