A UK man’s Mercedes has been “completely written off” after rats chewed through the wiring during the ongoing Birmingham bin strike, reports The Telegraph.
According to a report, binmen in the city have been on strike for over a month, leaving piles of rubbish bags obstructing the pavements.
On Monday, members of the Unite union overwhelmingly rejected a second offer from Birmingham city council as the strike entered its sixth week.
Adam Yasin, 33, from the Balsall Heath area of the city, said workers’ decision to reject a deal was a “nightmare”, claiming his car had been “completely written off” because of the damage caused by rats.
According to reports, last month that rats were chewing through car wires, leaving the vehicles stranded and surrounded by piles of rubbish.
“It has been really bad, especially where I live, there are a lot of restaurants there. I swear there was a pile [of rubbish] as tall as me – I kid you not,” Mr Yasin said. “Today they collected the rubbish that was on the floor, so the bags that were on the floor, but the bins are still left.”
Mr Yasin said he could not get to a mobile rubbish collection site opened by Birmingham city council because of the damage to his car, adding: “Because of that certain wiring, the car wouldn’t start. They said they need to rewire the whole car, but the insurance company said it was too expensive.”
He said it was a “surprise” and he was “disappointed” that Unite members had voted to reject the deal on Monday.
Mr Yasin added: “It’s more to do with hygiene on the streets. I take my son to the nursery and I use a specific street, and honestly it was blocked. It’s just annoying, and when the kids are there they like to touch things as well.”
Sam Ali, a Birmingham resident said that his sister was left stranded after rats chewed through her car wiring. The rats had broken into her BMW, discovered food and chewed through the plastic of the battery bay before munching on the wiring.
She was left unable to drive the car until her brother, a production operative at Jaguar Land Rover, paid for it to be fixed.
“It cost me £300 to fix – and it’s due to the rubbish,” said Mr Ali. “The council stopped collecting rubbish, and there are a lot more rats running on the road. Many are the size of cats and kittens.”
The strikes centre on the council’s decision to abolish the waste recycling and collection officer role, which is responsible for safety at the back of refuse collection lorries. Unite has claimed the cut will cause 50 workers to lose £8,000 a year and also about 20 staff to lose £2,000 as they are reassigned to new roles which pay less.
Birmingham council disputes those figures, and has said all workers have been offered alternative employment at the same pay, driver training, or voluntary redundancy.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
