More than 300 refuse workers have announced they will begin two days of strike action a week in an escalation of the ongoing industrial dispute with Birmingham City Council.

Unite said the decision to carry out regular strikes, beginning later this month, was in response to a payment the council made to workers who did not participate in a three-month walkout in 2017.

Assistant general secretary at Unite, Howard Beckett, said: ‘Unite's members have taken the decision to move to full strike action as a last resort due to the council's refusal to make a fair offer to resolve this dispute.'

The 2017 walk out was over Birmingham City Council's restructuring plans.