Birmingham bin strike: Locals cash in charging to clear rubbish but end up fly-tipping

Opportunistic locals are cashing in on the Birmingham bin strike - by charging to collect rubbish and fly-tipping it back on the streets. With the city's bins overflowing, hundreds of 'man in a van' ads have appeared on Facebook, with people offering to clear residential waste "for cheap."

But with tip fees increasing, many have seen it as a quick way to make a few bob, by dumping bags back on the rat-infested pavements. Our exclusive video shows one man emptying black sacks under the cover of darkness before being confronted by an angry resident. Last night locals reacted furiously and called for an urgent clampdown.

One said: "These are the people making the bin situation in Birmingham worse. They post on Facebook saying they can take people's bin bags away for a fee, let’s say £80.

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"They will come collect your rubbish from your house before driving to a local area with bins piling up and dump it there. Just be aware of this fact when placing blame on certain areas."

Folk setting up as private bin collectors must carry a Waste Carrier Licence, which typically costs £154 and lasts for three years.

But Robert Linton of Clearabee, the UK's largest bulky-waste collection service, warned having a licence does not necessarily mean collectors can be trusted to dump waste responsibly.

He said: "Birmingham is the wild west right now - people obtain licences to appear legitimate but fly-tip the waste to avoid paying to dispose of it in landfill. It's a goldrush for any unscrupulous man with a van.

"Handing waste to somebody a with a licence isn't the end of your responsibility - you have to have reason to believe they are trustworthy, if it's too cheap you need to be sure they are going to treat the waste the properly."

If charging residents to remove rubbish, dumping it in landfill costs £126.15 per tonne.

Fly-tipping is a serious criminal offence that risks a fine of £400, or up to £50,000 if prosecuted in court.

Birmingham groups are littered with ads for private collections, many of whom would be fully licensed.

Man with a van Daniel Dalton wrote: “Send me a message, I can do it for cheap.” Another, Christian J Taylor, added: “Hello we can do it fully licensed drop us a message.”

Thousands of tonnes of rubbish have built up on the city’s streets over more than four weeks, with Deputy PM saying the situation is “causing misery and disruption to residents.”

"The industrial action, which began in January and escalated to an all-out walkout last month, has seen hundreds of Birmingham’s refuse workers on strike.

"The dispute centres on the loss of a job role that bin workers say is safety-critical.” Union Unite says it would affect about 150 workers and mean a cut of up to £8,000 a year for some and the loss of pay progression for hundreds more.

Birmingham council says the post does not exist at other authorities and disputes both the number of staff affected and the sum of money involved. Councillors have previously said that no worker "need lose a penny."

Ms Rayner, who is also Communities Secretary, said she wanted to see "a fair resolution to this" and added: "I would urge Unite to suspend the action and accept the improved deal." She said the council had "moved significantly to meet the demands of the workers so we can see an end to this dispute."