A man has expressed his disgust at the "absolutely disgusting" scenes in Birmingham amid the ongoing bin strike, claiming he's seen "rats as big as cats".

Birmingham City Council declared a major incident on Monday evening (March 31) after rubbish continued to pile up on the streets, rendering them "unsafe". Striking refuse collectors were seen slow-walking in front of bin lorries on Tuesday morning, meanwhile, as fears of a "public health emergency" grow.

Billy Moore took to TikTok to share footage of one particular street where refuse sacks were piling up next to an overflowing skip. Other discarded items included a mattress, indoor and outdoor furniture, and suitcases.

"This is what you're up against in Birmingham," he said in the video. "There's rats as big as cats, I believe there's reports of people getting sick and ill. It's everywhere."

As he continued his walk down a residential street, dustbins could be seen bursting at the seams, with others knocked over and spilling onto the path. A second in his clip street was littered with piles of bin bags dumped on the pavement and the road, with a pigeon making itself comfortable amongst the mess.

The video, which has been viewed almost 700,000 times in 24 hours, prompted one TikTok user to suggest: "All residents in Birmingham who pays council tax should get a discount for the month of April, it's depressing and becoming a health hazard. Shame on the council for not resolving this issue swiftly."

Others slammed mindless fly-tippers, with one exasperated individual commenting: "You wouldn't put mattresses and garden furniture in the weekly bin collection. This is just an excuse to dump stuff!" Another person concurred: "To be fair a lot of that stuff wouldn't normally go in the regular waste bin. People just taking advantage of the situation."

Whilst one second city resident even warned: "The rat population will explode and probably won't return to normal numbers due to the amount of food they now have access too." And a fuming individual questioned: "Why don't people just take their rubbish to a tip? I know it's not ideal as the bin people should collect it but it's better than dumping on the street?"

Deliberations between the city council and refuse workers, represented by Unite, has hit a stalemate once more amid the ongoing strike's fourth week. Even with the intervention of Acas, hopes for resolution remain dashed. The crisis has resulted in an estimated 17,000 tonnes of detritus engulfing the streets of neighbourhoods throughout the city.

In light of the major incident declaration - which permits the council to seek additional help - Labour MP Preet Kaur Gill stood up in Parliament revealing the extent of the ordeal faced by her constituents. She said: "The Birmingham bin strike has meant many of my constituents haven't had their bins collected in weeks, and this week my constituent wrote to me to say they had been bitten by a rat."

Birmingham City Council issued a warning on its website on Sunday, alerting residents to ongoing industrial action by Unite the Union. The council stated: "There is currently industrial action by Unite the Union. We expect further disruption to residents following the recent escalation by Unite the Union to five days of strike action per week, Monday to Friday.

"Put your household waste (grey lid) bin out on your normal collection day. If it is not collected, leave it out, and we will collect it as soon as we can. This might be on a weekend. Recycling collections are suspended every day during industrial action so do not put your recycling bin (blue lid) out for collection."