Scotland: Rubbish lines Edinburgh's streets amid worker strikes

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Rubbish lines and bin begs are seen left in street of Scotland’s capital of Edinburgh as council staff walk out with nine more days of industrial action. In light of the ongoing strike, the city is now facing a “massive expansion” in the population of rats and mice.

In the video, released by Talk TV, wrappers and takeaway containers are seen piling up in the streets of the Scottish capital.

The disruption came as over 250 members of the Unite and GMB unions working for the city council have decided to take part in a strike action after rejecting a 3.5 percent pay offer from local government umbrella body Cosla.

The industrial action, which started last Thursday, resulted in residents being unable to have their rubbish collected and recycling centred closed.

In light of the disruption, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have urged First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to take immediate action to tackle the situation in the capital.

She said: “Nobody wants to see the kind of disruption and impact of strikes that many people are witnessing in Edinburgh right now”.

Scottish Conservative local government spokesman Miles Briggs called for an immediate intervention from the SNP Government.

In a statement, he said: “More could have been done to prepare the city, such as working with private companies or providing additional bins.

“The SNP Government must now intervene to prevent international embarrassment for Edinburgh and Scotland.

“The rubbish piling up on our streets risks damaging our city’s reputation.

“The SNP Government must get around the table and fix this before it’s too late. They cannot stand by and watch while a situation that they created by giving councils a poor funding settlement spirals out of control”.

Experts have now warned that the city could face a “massive expansion” in the population of rats and mice, resulting in a situation that could become “a massive public health problem”.

Speaking BBC Good Morning Scotland, Director of the Cockburn Association Terry Levinthal commented on the conditions recorded in Edinburgh saying: “Even before the strike there were problems.

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“We had our members and stakeholders complaining, particularly in the Old Town, where we’ve seen for hospitality businesses a number of structures erected

“These provide fantastic places for the city’s mice and rat population to hide away and eat all of the offerings that have been left for them, if I can put it that way.

“And we’ll see, as a result of it, that in a few weeks’ time there will be a massive expansion in the population of vermin because there is just so much food on offer”.

The video, posted on Twitter, sparked reactions with users calling on the government for immediate actions.

Referring to the SNP Government, user @DJMidarezaki commented: “It firs their rubbish government”.

Another user @Ed99349075 reacted: “You’ll get the same under labour in power”.

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