A swelling army of enormous rats fattening themselves on a growing pile of leftover refuse sounds like the story of horror movie nightmares – but it’s all too real for the people of Birmingham who say their cash-strapped Labour-run council is to blame.
Residents of the Midlands city have said ongoing bin strikes, an increase in fly-tipping and HS2 building work has sparked an invasion of pesky rats and mice, as they continue to find rodents tucked behind wheelie bins and nestling under car bonnets.
As part of more painful budget plans, the cash-strapped council which was declared effectively bankrupt in 2023, want to increase ‘rat tax’, charging for pest control in the rodent-ridden city – a service which was previously free.
Rebel councillor Sam Forsyth has since slammed the Labour-run council, telling BirminghamLive she had ‘no choice’ but to vote against their budget proposals as increased ‘rat tax’ would hit the city’s poorest the hardest.
And as if the situation wasn’t dire enough, more bin strikes are on the horizon with bin workers in a bitter clash with the bankrupt council over pay and working conditions from March 11.
It comes shortly after weeks of bin chaos in the city, as mountains of rubbish began to overflow on the streets and outside of homes as binmen took to the picket lines for several days in January and February.
And as the dirty vermin continue to make Birmingham their playground, locals have given insight to the skin-crawling scenes in their daily lives as they continue to frequently come face-to-face with the pests.
One frightened jet-setter was left on high-alert as she made her way through Birmingham airport, having spotted five rats in her brief walk to the lift.
Huge rats rummaging in the bins on the streets of Birmingham – a city overrun with vermin
Residents of the Midlands city have said ongoing bin strikes, an increase in fly-tipping and HS2 building work has sparked an invasion of pesky rats
One terrified jet-setter was constantly darting her eyes across Birmingham Airport after spotting five rats in her short walk to the lift
Darting her gaze frantically in every direction, she: ‘I’m so scared. I’m at Birmingham airport and I can count how many rats I have seen.
‘I can’t even speak anymore. I’ve counted five rats in the station.’
Hastily pressing lift buttons in a bid to escape the vermin scurrying along the floor, she added: ‘What the hell, there is nothing good in this country man.’
In another clip from last September, two rats appear to be enjoying a spot of shopping in the city’s famed Bullring shopping centre after hours.
The brief – but hair-rising – 19-second video zooms in one rat staring directly back at the camera from behind the closed shopping centre doors, whilst another pesky accomplice casually strolls along the welcome mat.
Along with a song which comedically croons ‘Oh no’, the horrified local slowly walks away as one rat jets off back into the landmark mall.
‘Imagine how many rats are actually in the Bulling after [all] we know town is full of rats. i stopped eating in town years ago,’ the disgusted resident wrote.
Elsewhere at Birmingham International Station, one commuter joked that they had spotted ‘Ratatouille’ ‘off shift, as they followed zooming pests whilst another unsuspecting traveller was sat glued to his phone.
As part of more painful budget plans, the cash-strapped council which was declared effectively bankrupt in 2023, want to increase ‘rat tax’
There is currently a £24 charge for the council’s pest control service however there is a review to hike th efee up to £26.40
One disgusted local spotted two rats enjoying a spot of shopping at the Bullring after hours
Mere weeks ago in February, one horrified shopper spotted a mouse – they had nicknamed Jerry – darting across the floor in Primark.
The brief ‘spot the mouse’ clip shows the rodent quickly scurrying in a blink of an eye across the front of a lift before burrowing itself behind a tall blue and white sign for the clothing store.
It comes shortly after Birmingham homeowners declared that the furry four-legged problem plaguing the city was getting ‘out of control’.
Residents of Drews Lane, in Washwood Heath said they were living in one of the areas worst hit by the rat plague due to nearby HS2 construction work.
‘The rats are huge,’ said Kim Blakeman. ‘They are like small cats and their tails are really chunky.
‘They are in and out of our recycling bins, and since HS2 has started across the road we’ve had more of an influx.
‘The council don’t bother litter picking our road anymore. People fly-tip, it’s a perfect nesting site and the rats come and feed in our bins.
‘We as neighbours collectively had to take our rubbish to the tip last week as the bin men won’t.
‘The litter from HS2 is blowing over the road into our gardens. They are moving so much dirt and it should be dampened down but it’s not. I refuse to clean my windows now because they keep getting dirty.
One frightened shopper saw a mouse dart across a Primark in the rodent-ridden capital city
Elsewhere at Birmingham International Station, one commuter joked that they had spotted ‘Ratatouille’ ‘off shift
‘You can see rats jumping out of cars. I opened my bonnet last week and found a load of rat droppings inside.’
Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It’s getting grim, I see a rat pretty much daily now, they are absolutely everywhere.
‘They are eating through our cars, getting into our bins and it can’t be good for all the children around here. It’s a health hazard.
‘The fly-tipping is getting out of hand too, which doesn’t help the rat issue, it’s just an embarrassing situation for a major city.’
Louise Baker, 43, a mechanic who runs Womanic in nearby Tyseley, revealed homes weren’t the only places being overrun by rats – cars were also falling victim to vermin attacks.
‘When I started my business nearly 10 years ago we never saw problems like this,’ Ms Baker said: ‘But now I’m getting people come in with damage to their cars because of rats and it’s becoming more and more common.
‘A few weeks ago I had a lady with a two-year-old Audi who had her engine management light on. I picked it up and saw that a rat had eaten through all the wiring.’
‘And last week my parent’s neighbour was having a car collected. It had been sitting on their drive for three months.
‘When I opened the bonnet I saw the rats had taken over. They had chewed everything under the bonnet.
Residents have said they continue to find rodents tucked behind wheelie bins and nestling under car bonnets
Pictured: A rodent making its way to someones camera during the night
Another vermin scurrying across the street after emerging from the bushes
‘One customer even warned me to check for rats when opening their boot because they had been nesting in there.
‘They seem to be everywhere now – they will be catching the bus soon. The other day one ran over my foot.’
It comes as the council – which effectively declared itself bankrupt in September 2023 – announced a new budget, which would see savings of £149 million by slashing jobs and upping council tax by 7.49 percent.
The most recent budget was opposed by Councillor Sam Forsyth, representing Quinton, was the only Labour member in the council to defy the whip, arguing the ‘rat tax’ would impact the city’s most impoverished people.
Labour-run Birmingham City Council brought in a £24 charge for rat control visits last year, is reviewing plans to raise the charge to £26.40.
‘I thought it was an extremely bad, shortsighted idea, particularly as we are in the middle of a bin strike,’ Cllr Forsyth told BirminghamLive.
‘I didn’t come into politics to make life any harder for poor people, because I know what that is like.
‘That is what I experienced growing up. Maybe because I experienced rats around growing up, that is why this is so important to me.
‘Life is about compromise but this was one thing I couldn’t compromise on. Rats frighten people, they carry diseases, people are uncertain what to do, and it’s just not something we should be lax about.’
Locals in Labour-run Birmingham say they are being plagued by the rodents more than ever due to an ongoing bin strikes, an increase in fly-tipping and HS2 building work
Waste is piling up on street corners in much of the city, attracting flies and vermin to previously clean areas
Rats are chewing through car wires, leaving families stranded and facing hefty repair bills
Rat droppings left behind by nesting creatures under a car bonnet in Birmingham
Councillors waved through inflation-busting pay rises for themselves while approving ‘brutal’ cuts to services and a 7.5 per cent council tax rise for residents.
The Labour-run authority – which effectively declared itself bankrupt in September 2023 – recently announced reduce bin collections in a bid to try and find millions in savings.
Council tax has also risen by 17.5 per cent in the last two years.
It comes after Unite union, representing bin workers in the city, said last Wednesday its employees would begin indefinite strike action across the city following a row over pay cuts last March 11.
The union’s workers had already gone on strike on certain days over the last few months.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘There is no justification for such huge pay cuts to workers’ wages.
‘Birmingham council cannot just ignore this situation and hope that it will go away.
‘It is a line in the sand for our members, who know more attacks will follow if they don’t fight back. Unite is with them 100 per cent.’
A council spokesperson previously told MailOnline: ‘Whilst we acknowledge that industrial action is causing missed bin collections across the city we continue to ensure every household in the city receives at least one collection per week at this time.
‘If a reasonable amount of side waste is presented this will also be collected as long as it is bagged or bundled.
‘We would like to thank residents for their understanding and patience during this period of industrial action. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.
‘The council continues to treat for rats for a contributory fee, this is far less than the cost to deliver the service and that charged by some neighbouring local authorities.
‘People can also purchase and treat themselves, as supplies are readily available in shops and online.’
Kim Blakeman said she has seen rats the size of small cats running around her neighbourhood
Louise Baker, 43, a mechanic who runs Womanic in nearby Tyseley, has seen an increase in car problems caused by rats
Locals have also said that fly-tipping has increased since the bins trikes began, which is making the problem worse
A nearby HS2 site is also being blamed by local residents for waste build-up in the area
HS2’s Washwood Heath Depot will become the control hub for the whole HS2 network and the main maintenance and storage facility for its train fleet.
A spokesperson for HS2 previously said: ‘The health and safety of our workforce and the public is HS2’s number one priority.
‘As with all our sites, the Washwood Heath site is very well maintained by our contractor Balfour Beatty VINCI, with strict waste management processes and robust dust suppression and monitoring in place.
‘Enclosed waste skips are used for bagged waste and are emptied regularly, with weekly site inspections carried out to check waste management.
‘As part of our ongoing work to actively support the local community around the site, the team has recently cleared fly tipped rubbish and carried out regular litter picks in the local area.’
MailOnline has approached Birmingham City Council for further comment.
