Council row boils over as locals charged 'rat tax' to remove rodents despite ongoing bin strikes and surge in fly-tipping

Now, residents have been fuelled with fury as they must pay extra to remove the vermin - which has been described as large as "small cats" - hidden behind their bins and even under car bonnets.

Outlined in its latest budget proposals, the city's Labour-run "cash-strapped" council is now introducing a fee for residents to pay for pest control to combat its vivacious vermin problem.

The enraged locals have blamed a combination of the refuse collectors' strikes, a rise in fly-tipping, as well as HS2 construction work for the ever-rising number of rats claiming the city's streets as their own

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Previously, the city's pest control service was free.

Locals were then forced to swallow a £24 per call out charge and now prices have risen to £26.40.

Councillor Sam Forsyth has hit out at the local Labour councillors, as she told BirminghamLive that she had "no choice" but to vote against their budget plans. Such fee, she claimed, would end up targeting the poorest across the city.

Currently, more bin strikes are scheduled from March 11 as refuse collectors demand that the council offer better pay and working conditions.

More bin strikes are scheduled from March 11

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The industrial action will follow weeks of absolute upheaval in Birmingham as piles of rubbish begin to mount throughout the city's streets when refuse collectors went on strike for just a few days over January and February.

Previously, HS2 said: "The health and safety of our workforce and the public is HS2's number one priority."

They added that "enclosed waste skips are used for bagged waste and are emptied regularly, with weekly site inspections" to check waste management.

GB News has approached Birmingham City Council for comment.