00:00More than 21,000 tonnes of rubbish have built up across Birmingham, the result of weeks of strike action that's pushed basic public services to breaking point.
00:13The bin bags didn't just pile up, they spilled across roads, attracted vermin and turned parts of the city into health hazards.
00:21Streets once considered safe and ordinary suddenly became contaminated zones with residents forced to tiptoe past filth and pests.
00:31Now military planners have been drafted in to assist the council's clean up operation, not to collect the bins themselves but to coordinate a response.
00:40It's a move that underlines just how far this crisis has spiralled.
00:45At the centre of the chaos is a bitter industrial dispute over pay and job security.
00:50And while the back and forth continues behind closed doors, the consequences have played out in full view of the public.
00:57Emergency powers were triggered, extra trucks were rolled out, staff were reassigned.
01:03But the question still being asked is why did it take a full blown meltdown before the wheels started turning?
01:10This wasn't just a failure to collect rubbish.
01:13It's been a failure to lead, a failure to prepare and a failure to protect the city's residents from the fallout.
01:20A vote is underwide that could see the strike come to an end.
01:24But even if the bins are finally cleared, the damage may prove longer lasting.
01:30This has become more than a local dispute.
01:34It's a story about neglect, decay and the slow collapse of trust between the people and those paid to serve them.
01:41.
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