Birmingham bin strikes: Deadly disease outbreak fears as rat hordes multiply in scorching weather

An expert has raised fears could spread a , where by refuse workers has left mountains of waste.

The city council last week declared a major incident to address the impact of the strikes, with contingency plans brought in to address the issue. However, huge piles of uncollected rubbish continue to sit on the city’s streets and locals have reported seeing giant rats the size of cats frolicking in the waste.

Now, infectious disease expert Dr Elizabeth Sherida the waste, coupled with sunny , could increase the risk of potentially deadly Leptospirosis (Weil's disease). She told : "There’s a risk related to rat exposure, like Weil’s disease, which comes from rat urine. That’s the one thing I would be worried about.

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“Most people don’t know they have been exposed to rat urine. You are at risk if you handle things that rats have been running over and that gets into your system.

“For example, if you were handling bin bags and it got into your eyes or you put your hands in your mouth. If anyone is handling stuff where rats may have been, they should wear gloves and wash their hands.”

She added the recent heat is “not a good thing” as it will cause the rats to breed faster. Weather maps show temperatures in the the city will remain around 20C today.

Announcing last week’s major incident, Birmingham City Council said: “The council has a contingency plan using our limited resources to collect from all properties in the city once a week, but actions on the picket line have prevented us from doing this. The daily blocking of our depots by pickets has meant that we cannot get our vehicles out to collect waste from residents. Often, we can only get one vehicle out per hour.

“This has meant to date around 17,000 tonnes of waste remains uncollected across the city. This has led to rising concerns of risks to public health and damage to our environment.”

The council added there are usually more than 500,000 collections per week and the strike contingency can handle 360,000. However, a blockade of depots means collections are far below.

Councillor John Cotton, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "It's regrettable 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. I want to thank residents for their continued patience under difficult circumstances and the community groups who have been working hard within their communities to help with clear-up.

“I would reiterate we have made a fair and reasonable offer to our workers which means none of them have to lose any money and I would urge Unite to reconsider their position.”