Garbage fills the streets as the strike continues in Brighton | Brighton

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Brighton’s sea air is visibly foul as the smell of rotting rubbish gently permeates parts of the city.

A week after the garbage truck drivers’ strike – which could last until mid-November – garbage bags are piling up on its streets, much to the chagrin of its human population and to the delight of its insects.

“It will obviously attract foxes, rats, and gulls. We have a lot of gulls here, and they’re opening the sacks,” said Marie de Vere, as she made her way through a driveway in the piles of high-shoulder sacks that cover the sidewalk at one road in the city’s Seven Dials.

“It’s really shocking,” she added, as she checked out the overflowing communal bins outside the elegant Victorian balcony at Montpellier Crescent, which is now home to one of the largest piles of rubbish in Brighton and Hove.

I have read the statement issued by both the council and the union. “But I still don’t understand the issues,” she added. “I sympathize with the workers, because it is a really terrible job. But I do not understand it at all.”

Up to 54 Cityclean trash and recycling truck drivers from the GMB union are organizing a strike, which began on October 5 and now appears to continue into next month in a dispute with the green-led council over wages and conditions, including removing drivers from bin rides long.

With the first strike ending on October 17, another has now been called to exit on October 21, following the breakdown of Monday’s talks with the council. The board acknowledges that it will take weeks to clear the litter backlog once the dispute is settled.

De Vere said she was lucky to have a hut in the garden to store her waste. Jeff, 77, a retiree who lives near the picturesque Crescent, said there was still room in his mutual fund, “but it will be overflowing by Friday,” he predicted.

“I have some sympathy for the drivers. I just think the board is wrong to let it get to this point. There will be rats. I didn’t see myself, but I heard.”

In the meantime, the council advises residents to dismantle and flatten boxes and cartons and store the waste in their homes, or take it to the edge themselves in their cars.

“Most people wouldn’t do that,” said Ray McKay, warehouse manager. “I don’t want to fill my car with smelly garbage bags.

“We have a big problem with foxes and seagulls here, so they’ll have a good nibble.”

Heaps of rubbish pile up as the blow continues in Brighton. Photograph: Alexandra Dragoy/The Guardian

An ugly sight is also undesirable for beachfront visitors. “This is one of the beautiful blue sea and white cliffs I took yesterday,” said Lynn Cooper, a visitor from Shropshire, as she and her husband Dave photographed the rubbish piles. “And that’s what I took today. My Brighton side.”

Domestic and community waste and recycling services, as well as garden and commercial waste services, are all affected. In the midst of back-and-forth negotiations, Brighton and Hove Council claimed that GMB left Monday’s meeting before hearing the full details of the “significant and generous” second offer – a claim rejected by GMB Southern.

The council said in a statement that it was “disappointing” that the offer was rejected. “We urge GMB to review the offer formally made to them in writing and return to the table to discuss with us.”

In advice to residents, it states that it has “contingency plans in place to ensure that the best possible service is provided under the circumstances”.

People are being asked to put any trash in double or triple bags on the street, with those using communal bins being asked to store trash at home if possible – although the strike may last for weeks, it is not surprising that this is an unattractive prospect for family members.

The southern GMB said it was “disappointing” that the talks had broken down. The union felt it had made “good progress in moving toward dissolving and stopping the strike” but added that it had seen “clarity about the inflection and retraction of some of the positional assurances by the council team”.

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