ROTTING rubbish is piling up around Southampton after a week-long strike by binmen.

So far blocks of flats with communal bin storage are being affected most.

In Turners Oak Court in St James Close in Shirley there has been no waste collection since last Thursday when usually there are two rounds of collections a week to clear two large containers for 40 flats.

Bins have piled up outside the usual storage area and many people fear for the health of the 35 children who live metres away from the rotting heaps.

Rats have already been seen and the area is already prone to foxes who rip open bags.

Michelle Gorry, 66, said she supported the strikers but feared a rat invasion.

She said: "There will be diseases. I am worried for all the babies and children."

Tasha Broadway, 29, who has two children, said: "We have got the smell coming through the windows. It is horrible and disgusting.

"It is a health hazard. If this went of for weeks it could all the way down the steps."

Mum-of-one Kate Lee, 26, said: "I think it is terrible and would like kids to play out now."

Wayne Baker, 39, said he opposed the strike and feared the consequences if it continues during what is predicted to be a hot summer.

He said: "I have not had a pay rise for four years."

About 4,300 council workers have been threatened with dismissal if they don't sign up to the new contracts in July 11 that will cut their pay by up to 5.5 per cent.

Tory council leaders, who are axing around 250 staff, including senior managers, say the pay cuts are needed to make budgets savings and save more than 400 more job losses over the next two years.

The council says it is talking to mediation service ACAS about setting up a meeting in a bid to end the industrial action.

But union leaders, who have been calling for talks, said the council still had not contacted them.

Unite regional officer Ian Woodland said: "We are committed to a negotiated solution but it seems that Cllr Royston Smith and the Conservatives are more busy leafleting and targeting bins with anti-union messages."

The council's Unison branch secretary Mike Tucker said: "Royston Smith has created this crisis because no other council has imposed such a large cost. It is a crisis that he should be talking to the unions to resolve."

Mr Tucker said that the unions were conscious of the affect on bin collections. But he questioned why the council was not organising skips to stop overflowing bin area.

Meanwhile around 40 traffic wardens, maintenance engineers and cash collectors will walk out next week as part of the same dispute.