Rats, rubbish and recrimination: Metro revisits Birmingham as bin strikes enter second year

Piles of rubbish still plague areas in Small Heath and other Birmingham suburbs (Picture: Jeremy Selwyn)

Walking past rows of bin bags in Birmingham is inevitably going to trigger a bout of déjà vu.

The West Midlands city has been plagued by rubbish, rats and recrimination since bin workers began an all-out strike a year ago today.

There is no end in sight to the paralysis, with both sides blaming each other for refusing to reach an agreement.

Metro spoke to union workers...