Strike ballot for bin collectors

Rubbish has been piling up in Edinburgh

The risk of industrial action by Edinburgh refuse collectors during the city's festival season this summer has moved a step closer.

The public service union Unite has formally told Edinburgh City Council by letter of its intention to ballot its members on possible strike action.

The vote begins on 23 July and will run for two weeks.

If members vote to go out on strike it would begin in the middle of August, during the Edinburgh Festival.

The staff are already working-to-rule in a row over plans to change the way they are paid.

It is claimed the new system could see bin collectors' wages cut from £18,000 to around £12,000.