A major incident has been declared by Birmingham City Council over the ongoing bin strike, which has left 17,000 tonnes of waste on the streets. Leader John Cotton said it was in response to concerns for public health as the authority struggles to clear the rubbish, which has led to the issue being raised in Parliament.

"With 17,000 tonnes of rubbish piling up and growing by almost 900 tonnes a day, the city is on the brink of a public health emergency. The streets are littered, the bins are overflowing, and the rats and maggots are spreading. This is the Birmingham that Labour has created. This is all too little too late.

The UK’s largest local authority has declared a major incident over a bin strike it says has resulted in 17,000 tonnes of rubbish going uncollected across Birmingham. Birmingham City Council said on Monday that the blocking of depots by Unite picket lines had prevented it from carrying out contingency collections to alleviate the impact of ongoing industrial action .