蜜芽传媒

Talks over Birmingham's bin strike have broken down with the council leader saying the authority was "walking away".

Conciliation service Acas has been mediating in the negotiations since May, but now leader John Cotton has said the authority has "reached the absolute limit" of what it can offer.

Mountains of rubbish have been seen across the city since bin collection workers walked out in January, with an all-out strike going on since March.

Cotton said the council had negotiated in good faith but the union had rejected all offers and the authority must now "press ahead to both address our equal pay risk and make much needed improvements to the waste service".