Scotland's capital has become a rubbish dump for the world to see with stomach-turning pictures of bins piled high with litter as the refuse worker strike continues.
The historic Grassmarket area, in the centre of the Festival Fringe, which sees huge numbers of tourists flock to the city, has been pictured strewn with filthy litter as piles of rubbish overflow onto the streets, Edinburgh Live reports.
Lothian Road and Princes Street are also pictured with abandoned wrappers lining the roads.
Some locals took the situation into their own hands this weekend and organised community clean-ups with fears over health and safety in the city.
The strike continues into its fifth day after unions rejected the formal 3.5 per cent pay increase proposed by COSLA and the industrial action is set to continue for 11 days, until Sunday, August 28.
Picket lines were formed on Thursday in front of closed recycling and waste centres across the city and a demonstration, organised by unions Unite and GMB, was held in front of the city chambers. Union organiser say that the cost of living crisis, rapidly rising inflation and growing fuel prices are putting pressure on workers, leaving some forced to choose "between heating and eating."
The council have advised the public to store their rubbish at home while the industrial action is ongoing. Council leader, Cammy Day, insists that the council is developing a recovery plan so the city can return to normal as quickly as possible following the strike.
Cammy Day said: "I fully appreciate the impact this action will have on our city and we're asking residents to be patient and work with us to help manage the inevitable impacts by planning ahead and following our advice.
"We've published tips on what to do with their waste and recycling and how they can help us to keep the city as clean as possible during and after the strike.
"We're also reaching out to our tenants and housing associations, businesses, festivals and other partners asking them to share our messaging and provide whatever support they can during this busy and important time for our Capital city.
"We're developing a detailed recovery plan so clean ups can begin and services can resume as quickly as possible after the strike."
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