In a rubbish-strewn city, a hero hunts a dangerous villain blighting the streets.

But this crusader does not wear a cape — instead he uses rubber gloves and plants bait to catch his prey. Will Timms, affectionately dubbed “rat man”, is ridding Birmingham of rodents as Britain’s second city grapples with a crippling bin strike.

Nearly 400 of the cash-strapped council’s refuse workers went on an indefinite walkout on Tuesday in a pay and jobs dispute. Already, on-and-off strikes since the have brought disruption — now crisis point has been hit. This place might not be Gotham but “bin city” certainly needs someone to clean up the streets right now.

On Friday, the joined Will in one of the city’s roads plagued by a mountain of bin bags. Ironically, above the pile a “no dumping” sign on the wall warned of a penalty of up to £20,000. Will, who runs WJ Pest Solutions, discovered someone appeared to have made off with a bait station he laid.

The number of bin bags in the spot, near ’s Hawthorns football stadium, had roughly doubled since his visit days earlier. Shockingly, Will explained no rubbish had been collected there for four to five weeks. Before we met, he’d been to help a family nearby with a rat problem.

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The 47-year-old — who boasts a personalised “rat” number plate on his vehicle — is an 11-year veteran of the industry. Will, who has not had a day off in two weeks, is seeing about double the number of rodent jobs pre-strike. “Before the bin strikes… you wouldn’t see black bags on the side of the road. The bin men were quite good at doing it. Since February though, it’s just become a complete joke.”

The place has become “bin city”, he agrees. “The rubbish has gone up unbelievably,” Will explained, adding: “I mean, they’ve got agency staff but that does not cover it… they’re just concentrating on the main roads.” He went on: “And the rats are just unbelievable. Usually, you’d only see a rat during the night… but now you’re seeing them virtually all the time because of the amount of rubbish.”

Will charges £200 for three visits and proofing – to stop rodents returning. “I’ve got a couple of clients at the moment who’ve had to borrow money off relatives to get the treatment done,” Will explained. “Every now and then I do give a discount because I do feel really sorry.

“I mean, I’ve had one where she had a seven-month-old baby in there and she got rats in her kitchen. She was sterilizing the bottles at night, coming down in the morning and there’d be a rat dropping inside one.” This was only last week, Will said. “It’s awful, it’s awful,” he added, explaining he went to the mum’s rented property to deal with cockroaches only to discover rats.

Recently, he came across one of the biggest rats he’d ever seen – at about 50 cm in length including its tail. “Since the bin strikes, they’re getting really big,” he explained. “I’ve seen about eight, nine where I’d had to double look and think, that’s massive.” He said they were “kitten-sized”. But these are no cute creatures.

Grahame Turner, technical manager at the National Pest Technicians Association, advised residents to take uncollected rubbish to a tip themselves where possible. He said: "This is a huge public health danger, and what we're seeing in Birmingham is incredibly concerning.”

Mr Turner added: "Rodents aren't just a nuisance - they can pose serious health risks to you and your family. Rats and mice are known to carry diseases such as leptospirosis, hantavirus, and salmonella, which can spread through their droppings, urine, and even by contaminating food supplies.”

Elsewhere, we spoke to a couple whose bins were bursting outside their property. Arshad Sherbaz and partner Selina have an adult son with autism who requires three carers to help him. The couple, in their 50s, live in the city’s Alum Rock area where their rubbish has not been collected for about a fortnight.

The family’s situation is tough enough without having to endure problems with waste collection. Unlike some others, it is difficult for them to make time to get to the dump. Selina said: “We have a son who has got autism so … we have to clean all the time. I don’t know how the rubbish piles up, but it just does.”

She showed us to the back garden where she has resorted to putting rubbish too. Only half an hour before we spoke, Selina had reached the end of her tether. “I screamed… ‘phone the Birmingham city council’," she said. The mother-of-four said of the rubbish outside: "It doesn't look good... we have teachers and carers and tutors coming in and they see these." Arshad added: “It’s the largest council in Europe and second biggest city in the UK and to have a sight like that on its streets, it’s quite shameful. It’s shameful, in this day and age, that a resolution can’t be sought or attained.”

In another part of the city, a mum-of-one told of seeing a huge rat. Ida Elbuka, 45, who has a two-year-old son, said: “Everyone on the street is trying to keep it tidy and trying to do their best but it’s been horrible because sometimes you’ll just get rubbish everywhere.”

She recalled encountering a rat the size of a cat the week before. “I’m not even kidding, I’m not even exaggerating,” she said. “It was massive, that rat was having a field day… It scared the hell out of me, I had to cross to the other side of the road.” Ida joked: “The rats are, I must say, well-fed in this area.”

Meanwhile, a volunteer litter picker told of “grot spots” she targets for clean ups. Naima Khan, 49, secretary of Friends of Sparkbrook community group, said: “I’m hoping it sorts itself out and they sort it out…” The good Samaritan added: “People are blaming the bin men but they don’t actually know what’s going on… behind the scenes.” She explained: “They don’t know why the bin men are upset. Nobody’s bothered to check so I’ve put it on my group now…”

The union Unite claims the scrapping of the waste collection and recycling officer role has impacted 150 workers – with cuts to pay of up to £8,000. But the council despites the figures, with a spokesperson saying: “We have made a fair and reasonable offer to Unite and we would urge them to come back to the table so this can be resolved.

“Residents of Birmingham want and deserve a better waste collection service and the restructure that Unite is opposing is part of the much-needed transformation of the service. There are just a small number of workers that are still affected – 41 – who have already been offered alternatives, including highly valuable LGV Driver Training for career progression and pay, and other roles in the council equivalent to their former roles.

“Of these, just 17 could lose the maximum amount (just over £6,000) and they will have pay protection for six months in line with council policy. The transformation of the waste service will bring us in line with industry standards – many councils operate with a driver and two loaders.

"The current structure was created as part of the settlement agreement following the 2017 bin strikes and is not industry standard. The restructure is a crucial part of our need to become financially sustainable and all roles have been evaluated. We appreciate residents’ frustration and thank them for their patience. We are asking that they put their household waste out as usual and we will collect it when we can.” A petition started last month calling on the city’s council “to take immediate action to resolve the ongoing failures in recycling and household rubbish collection” has amassed over 5,500 signatures.

Back with Will, he doesn’t have great sympathy with those striking. The rat-catcher has “definitely” noticed an increase in uncollected bins since the indefinite walkout. He described the situation simply as “just a mess”, adding: “I feel really sorry for the residents.”