Woman left stranded after 'rats size of cats' gnaw through car's wiring amid Birmingham bin strike

Woman left stranded after 'rats size of cats' gnaw through car's wiring amid Birmingham bin strike
Woman left stranded after 'rats size of cats' gnaw through car's wiring amid Birmingham bin strike
Woman left stranded after 'rats size of cats' gnaw through car's wiring amid Birmingham bin strike
Susanna Siddell

By Susanna Siddell


Published: 31/03/2025

- 14:23

Updated: 01/04/2025

- 11:04

The Labour council has been unable to resolve a long-running dispute with the city's refuse collectors, leading streets to become laden with mountains of rubbish

A woman was left stranded after rats "the size of cats" gnawed through her car's wiring as she became yet another victim of Birmingham's horrific bin strike.

Revolting rodents which are running rampant through the city's streets after three weeks of bin strikes, managed to scramble their way into a BMW to feast upon food inside the vehicle, as well as the rest of the wiring inside the car.


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As a result, the car was in no state to be driven, leading her to call up her brother to pay for the wiring to be amended.

"It cost me £300 to fix - and it’s due to the rubbish," Sam Ali told The Telegraph.

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Birmingham bin strikes

A woman was left stranded after rats "the size of cats" gnawed through her car's wiring as she became yet another victim of Birmingham's horrific bin strike

PA

"The council stopped collecting rubbish and there are a lot more rats running on the road. Many are the size of cats and kittens."

Residents' fury - inflamed by gangs of roaming rodents and streets of overflowing bins - has plagued the area for weeks after the city's Labour-run council hit a wall in negotiations with the city's refuse collectors' unions.

As a result, Birmingham has fallen victim to fly-tippers as they dominate its streets, dumping rubbish across Britain's second-largest city.

So far, it has been estimated that around one million have been affected by the bin strikes.

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Birmingham bin strikes

Birmingham has fallen victim to fly-tippers as they dominate its streets, dumping rubbish across Britain's second-largest city

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Resident Mohammed Choudrey told The Telegraph that he had seen a rat "charging towards a cat" and that the rodent had been so large that it caused the feline to flee in terror.

"I looked at the rat, and for a brief few seconds I thought it was a cat. They're being fed so well that they are growing in size," he added.

Hitting out at the council for allowing the city to become riddled with rubbish, he said: "They can claim they are bankrupt but we are paying for a service we are not getting.

"If it was a private company, we wouldn’t pay. The council has a duty of care to protect its citizens because this is dangerous."

Angela Rayner

The Tories have demanded that Labour hold an urgent Cobra meeting to address the state of Birmingham's bin strikes, delivering a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and communities minister Angela Rayner

PA

The city's council tax falls between £1,491.33 and £4,474 per year, as the average resident is forced to fork out more than £2,000.

Tax rates are set to increase by 7.5 per cent in April.

The Tories have demanded that Labour hold an urgent Cobra meeting to address the state of Birmingham's bin strikes, delivering a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner.

Now, ahead of May's local election, other competing parties are eyeing up council seats as residents become increasingly frustrated with Labour in power.

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