LONDON >> There a stink rising over the United Kingdom’s second-largest city.

Garbage has piled up for a month in Birmingham during a dispute between the city and its trash collectors. It is a sore sight for eyes and offensive to the nose. Mountains of garbage are said to be visible from space and people have complained of seeing rats as big as cats in the refuse.

“You can see the juice flowing out of the bags onto the road. It stinks,” Naeem Yousef said. “It’s bringing down the areas. People are saying, ‘Look at these areas, how dirty these people are.’”

Talks on Monday failed to reach an agreement, but they were scheduled to resume today as the strike enters its fifth week.

— The Associated Press