Edinburgh Fringe visitors shocked by stinking bin strike mess
Tourists have told of their shock at the mess piling up in Edinburgh as people add more rubbish to overflowing bins during the ongoing strike.
Visitors to the capital said they were finding it hard to find places to eat their ice cream and take pictures without being near piles of waste.
They said the smell was becoming hard to bear in the streets just one week into the 12-day bin strike.
Bin strikes across a further 13 Scottish councils have just started.
They are a week behind Edinburgh's strike.
Trade unions queried a previous offer of a 5% uplift, saying they needed more detail about how it would impact the lowest paid members.
The strike in Edinburgh started in the midst of the Edinburgh Festival - the biggest arts festival in the world.
Shalki Khajone, 30, from India, told BBC Scotland she was shocked by the mountains of rubbish in Edinburgh's streets.
"We have seen so many bins overflowing and we are wondering why.
"I was saying to my sister I wouldn't expect this amount of rubbish in a capital city.
"We just thought there were too many tourists causing lots of waste and that it was just bad management. We have been very surprised.
"So to hear its a bin strike makes a lot of sense to us now and we are glad we have found out the reason."
Shamli Khajone, 26, said: "It stinks. It's not very appealing, especially when we were trying to find a place to eat our ice cream away from the rubbish.
"And there isn't a view of the monuments that doesn't stink. It's very sad."
Marion, 54, from Edinburgh, said she was documenting the piles of rubbish in the city.
She said: "I'm taking a selfie beside the rubbish because it's never been as bad as this before.
"I feel the waste people get a hard time.
"I think it looks awful but I have empathy for the waste teams.
"It's most embarrassing in front of tourists in the festival."
Hayley Compton, 29, from Lincoln, said: "We came out of the train station and the rubbish was everywhere and it just looks really dirty.
"We felt very sad when we saw it."
Rosie Marshall, 25, also from Lincoln: "It's not a true reflection of Edinburgh as we have been before.
"I would be disappointed if this had been my first time, especially when you're taking photographs."
Rhona O'Brien, 35, from Dublin, said: "We came over for the Coldplay concert and we were wondering why there were so many people and so much litter.
"We had no idea there was a festival on or a bin strike.
"We have just been so shocked by how dirty the streets are and how people have been balancing their litter on top of the full bins or around the sides."
Colin Smith, from Dundee, said: "I was getting annoyed at the people who are continuing to put their empty cups and cartons at the bins, but now I've realised I think many of the tourists don't know there is a strike on so they are leaving their rubbish next to the bins thinking it will be lifted.
"It's quite embarrassing to be Scottish knowing that some tourists won't know there is a strike on so they will think we just live like this.
"I support the refuse collectors but this is embarrassing."
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