Part of east London has turned into a mass dumping ground with huge mounds of rubbish overflowing in the streets as binmen go on strike in a row over pay.

Furious businesses and locals have blasted Tower Hamlets Council as a two week-long walkout of refuse workers sees mounds of uncollected black bin bags, cardboard boxes and plastic crates pile up. 

The mountains of waste have gathered in tourist hotspot Brick Lane, sparking one of the streets most famous businesses, the Beigel Shop, to take matters into their own hands by taking it to the tip themselves.

East London native Lord Alan Sugar was left appalled after being confronted with a ‘stock pile of garbage’ in Bethnal Green Road, while there were also mounds of detritus left behind by market stall holders in Whitechapel Road.

It comes after more than 200 council workers at the Aspire-run local authority walked out of their jobs on September 18 when Unite members rejected the national local government pay offer of a flat increase of £1,925. The offer is below the rate of inflation, the union said.

Photos show mounds of uncollected black bin bags, cardboard boxes, and empty black plastic crates discarded by market stall holders on Whitechapel Road, Tower Hamlets

Bins were overflowing on Whitechapel Road in Tower Hamlets today as a two-week long bin strike got underway

It comes after more than 200 Tower Hamlets council workers walked out in a dispute over pay. The two-week strike began on September 18. Pictured: Whitechapel Road

Since then, rubbish has been piling up on the pavements with business owners saying they are having to pay out £400 a week to have it collected. 

The Beigel Shop was left £150 out of pocket when staff had to take van full of rubbish to the tip this week. 

Manager Ellis Zelum told the Evening Standard today: ‘We had to dump a load yesterday because our yard was full of it and we don’t want to attract mice or rats.’

Joining the chorus of people complaining about the sight was Lord Alan Sugar. 

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, he said: ‘I am riding through Bethnal Green Road in Hackney my old Manor. I am shocked at the stock pile of garbage that is all over the pavements. It is not days of stuff it looks like weeks . What is going on???’

Private waste company Bywater has been hired by Tower Hamlets Council to pick up the mountain of rubbish. 

High rise buildings, markets, commercial areas and main roads will be targeted in the clean-up operation, the council said. 

Lutfur Rahman, executive mayor of Tower Hamlets, said: ‘We value our frontline staff and know how hard they work. This strike is a national pay dispute and not limited to local issues. It is in fact a response to the very real cost-of-living crisis felt by families up and down the country.

‘Naturally we are disappointed by the strike as keeping Tower Hamlets’ streets clean and litter free is our priority.

A mound of rubbish from overflowing bins on Crisp Street in Tower Hamlets on Monday

In nearby tourist hotspot Brick Lane, piles of black and pink bin bags full of rotting rubbish line the street outside shops

In another photo a stack of waste can also be seen circling a tree. The council has hired a private waste company to start a clean-up operation to collect the built-up waste. Pictured: Whitechapel Road

Black bags containing waste pile up in Martha Street near Shadwell station today

Bin bags containing waste pile up outside a primary school in Martha Street this afternoon

‘We apologise to our residents and businesses and want to assure them we are doing our best to maintain services throughout.’  

Announcing the strikes earlier this month, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Our members provide critical frontline council services. 

‘Despite the essential roles our members undertake their employer thinks it is acceptable to propose what amounts to yet another real terms pay cut, at a time when they increasingly can’t make ends meet.

‘Unite never takes a backward step in supporting its members and is dedicated to enhancing their jobs, pay and conditions. 

‘Unite will be providing members at Tower Hamlets with its complete support.’

Tower Hamlets is currently run by Aspire, a local political party formed by the current mayor Luftur Rahman under the name Tower Hamlets First.

Tower Hamlets First was removed from the register of political parties after incidences of voting fraud and malpractice were uncovered, with Mr Rahman himself banned from running for public office for five years in 2015 after being convicted of polling offences.

An election court found Mr Rahman personally guilty, or guilty by his agents, of charges including making false statements about a candidate, of administering council grants in a way that constituted electoral bribery and of spiritual intimidation of voters. 

However, that did not stop him plotting a return to politics, and in 2022 he was re-elected as mayor of the east London borough with more than 40,000 votes.

The Bangladesh-born politician hailed the size of his majority in the area with a large Bengali community, which he claimed was an increase on the previous election result.

After his election, Mr Rahman said he would scrap controversial low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), which limit traffic in residential areas.

Speaking last year, one of Mr Rahman’s rivals, Andrew Wood, an independent councillor for Canary Wharf, agreed that he had managed to unite his Bengali supporters and white working class voters unhappy at he LTNs.

‘Elections are won or lost, depending on how the British Bengali community decide to allocate their vote,’ Mr Wood said.

‘If Lutfur wins, it’s because of a combination of that and the white working class votes, because of the LTN issue in particular.’

Last week Mr Rahman made good on his promise after announcing he would remove the LTN that was in place on roads around Columbia Road’s famous flower market, Brick Lane and Old Bethnal Green Road.

The planters, lockable bollards and cameras catching out drivers in Bethnal Green will now be removed, despite a survey showing many residents in the area wanted it to stay in place.

Making the decision, Mr Rahman said: ‘While LTNs improve air quality in their immediate vicinity, they push traffic down surrounding arterial roads, typically lived on by less affluent residents.’

He added a ‘significant proportion’ of the borough’s local economy is ‘dependent on car usage, particularly among lower paid workers such as taxi drivers, couriers, small businesses and market traders’.