DISGUSTED business owners on some of London's most iconic streets say they are covered in 6ft towers of rubbish and huge rats are running wild.
Brick Lane and Bethnal Green Road, both in the borough of Tower Hamlets, are covered in heaps of rotting garbage.
Mountains of rubbish have built up after waste collection workers in East London went on strike for a second week over pay.
Photos and videos show towers of refuse piled high on the streets with litter overflowing onto the pavements.
Business owners on Brick Lane, known for its hipster cafes, graffiti and bagel shops, have described the situation as a "s***show".
Christina, 30, who has worked at Dal Fiorentino for two months, said: "It's the fifth day of the strike and it's going to be for two weeks so I'm expecting rats at some point.
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"I'm very worried about the impact the bins are having on my business. Even though it seems people are still coming, it smells so bad.
"There were towers of rubbish all along Brick Lane. I'm so afraid we are going to have rats in the shop. That is my biggest concern.
"A lady yesterday came in and it was her first time visiting the area. She said it's horrible and dirty and she will never come back again."
Eleanor Mazareanh, 40, a worker at Dark Sugars, said: "Everybody is asking what has happened. The bins and garbage have started to smell because it's been a week.
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"It also looks horrible. As this is a tourist area, people ask if Brick Lane is like this all the time.
"It's not nice. When it's windy, the litter and plastic blows inside.
"There was a mountain of rubbish. A private company has come once, but they need to come again and clean what's left."
Ellis Zelman, 21, who has managed the famous Beigel Shop for two years, said: "The footfall hasn't actually decreased, but it's just not nice for the customers where they are eating the bagels.
"They are eating outside next to the rubbish and it smells. If I was a consumer, I wouldn't like to eat here.
"We aren't getting our bins collected so the yard is just filling up with rubbish. We are having to put it in a van and go to a dump and pay to have it disposed of.
"We have tourists coming from all over the world and they ask 'what is all this rubbish doing here?'. We have to say it isn't normally like this."
His sister Louise, 21, who also works at the bagel shop, said: "The other day I was down Bethnal Green Road and some of the piles were bigger than store fronts. It's ridiculous.
"All the mess, it just doesn't look nice. It's a s***show basically!
"It's just extra work cleaning up the shop front and trying to keep the rubbish level down. For such an iconic road with a large tourist footfall, it impacts its reputation."
Behye Karagoz, 23, a waitress at Cafe 338, said: "We can't have customers sit outside because they say it smells. We are trying our best to tell other business owners to not put their bins on the street.
"There are a lot of worms and rats. The biggest problem is the smell.
"We are not earning as much money as we used to. I don't know what is going to happen."
Adam Ozkurt, 39, who owns the White Horse kebab house on Bethnal Green Road, said: "We have a big problem with rats and foxes. I hope I won't see any rats in my shop.
"All the rubbish piled up looks very shameful in 2023 in the middle of London.
"The smell is putting people off from coming in. There is also very limited space left on the pavement. It's a disgusting scenario."
It comes after Unite the Union announced that more than 200 workers had rejected a national flat rate pay rise of £1,925 as they said it amounted to a real terms pay cut.
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.
Meanwhile the Apprentice star Lord Alan Sugar hit out at the mess in Bethnal Green on Monday.
"I am riding through Bethnal Green Road 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."
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.
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"Naturally we are disappointed by the strike as keeping Tower Hamlets' streets clean and litter free is our priority.
"We apologise to our residents and businesses and want to assure them we are doing our best to maintain services throughout."
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