Military planners have been called in to help tackle mounting piles of rubbish in Birmingham following a month-long strike by refuse workers.

Thousands of tonnes of uncollected rubbish line the city's streets due to the all-out strike by Unite union members that began on 11 March. The city council has declared a major incident and asked neighbouring authorities to help tackle the crisis.

Now, after a government appeal to the Army, a small number of office-based planners will provide logistical support for a short time. Soldiers are not being deployed to collect rubbish.

Striking workers are voting on a "partial deal" to end the strike on Monday, Unite has said.

The details of that offer are not clear, but, speaking last week, the union's national lead officer Onay Kasab described it as "deficient", although it would be for the workers on the ground to decide.

A government spokesperson said: "The government has already provided a number of staff to support the council with logistics and make sure the response on the ground is swift to address the associated public health risks.

"In light of the ongoing public health risk, a small number of office-based military personnel with operational planning expertise have been made available to Birmingham City Council to further support in this area."

• Why are Birmingham bin workers on strike?

The spokesperson added this built on a range of measures on which it had supported the council, including opening household waste centres.

'Help withdrawn'

Last week, it emerged the government had asked other local authorities to help Birmingham City Council clear the backlog of rubbish on the streets.

The Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government said a number had offered to assist.

Walsall Council was among them, offering support by extending tip opening hours so Birmingham residents could take their waste there.

However, on Monday, Walsall Council leader Gary Perry said the offer had been withdrawn.

He said: "We, in line with many other local authorities, offered support to Birmingham City Council in the form of access to our HWRCs [household waste recycling centres].

"After a week, there were no signs of this being accepted, so we have taken the decision to take this offer off the table so we can focus on continuing to deliver services in our borough."

A spokesman for Birmingham City Council said: "The council received mutual aid support from various neighbouring local authorities and made the decision based on what most benefitted residents.

"We thank all offers of support from these local authorities as we continue to clear excess waste."

The authority is facing criticism, meanwhile, for pressing ahead with plans to switch from weekly to fortnightly collections while the strike remains unresolved.

Leaflets about the change have appeared in residents' letter boxes, but Martin Mullaney, a former councillor for the city's Moseley and Kings Heath ward, said the timing was "politically insensitive".

The leaflets state residents will have a new green recycling bin to be collected fortnightly, a food bin to be collected weekly, and a black bin to be collected fortnightly on alternate weeks to recycling collections.

Mr Mullaney said: "It's just crazy.

"We've got people's rubbish not being collected, and now they're getting a leaflet telling them they're going to have extra wheelie bins.

"People will not be very happy. The timing is appalling."

Last week, deputy prime minister Angela Rayner urged striking bin workers to accept a new deal to end the dispute.

She said a "significantly improved" offer had been made and the council had "moved significantly to meet the demands of the workers so we can see an end to this dispute".

However, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said the deal represented "a partial deal on pay protection for a few", and the striking bin workers were "in the driving seat around what they wish to accept".

At the end of March, the Labour-run city council declared a major incident, citing an estimated 17,000 tonnes of rubbish across Birmingham over the first four weeks of the strike.

As the prospect of Tyne and Wear Metro trains cutting through Washington takes a significant step forward, those on its doorstep are cautiously optimistic about political promises becoming a rail reality.

North East Mayor Kim McGuinness recently announced funding to repurpose part of the mothballed Leamside Line into an extension to the Metro. The bill? About £900m.

Linking up from Pelaw in Gateshead to South Hylton in Sunderland, Metro trains could one day be making their way past Follingsby Park and into two yet unplaced stations provisionally known as Washington North and South, creating the "Washington Loop".

"It'll be a good thing… if it happens," Graham Horn tells me at his home on Barmston Close, overlooking a former railway bridge now overcome with vegetation but which could be put back to use by 2033.

He has lived in the town for 63 years and proudly says he is a "Washington man".

He remembers the closure of the Leamside Line in 1964 which, by that point, was "only really coal trains and the odd train before the line was closed down".

Elsewhere on the street, and in the shadow of the old line, Laura Patton has lived here for 22 years.

She admits she is not put off by the thought of trains once again passing her home.

"It's a good thing because there's a lot of people missed having the Metro come through Washington," she said.

"It'll get used a lot."

Another resident tells me she hopes it is a "great success", but seems hesitant to show much excitement, adding: "They've talked about it for a long time but nothing has ever happened. Hopefully it will this time."

About 1.6 miles (2.5km) away, the WWT Washington Wetland is home to 57 flamingos, two otters named Buster and Musa and a whole host of other animals.

But visitors are having to use two or three buses to get there, unless they drive.

It is worse for some volunteers who travel from as far as north Newcastle.

Gill Pipes, who runs the charity-operated reserve which has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, said of the extension: "It really is essential.

"Washington is a huge town, one of the biggest in the UK, and to not have a rail network or Metro, it's quite prohibitive.

"The fact that people will be able to use the train, and then the Metro, that's going to be amazing."

Sunderland Conservatives previously raised concern over the "high cost" to extend the Metro comparing it with the lower cost of £298m to reopen the Northumberland line to Ashington.

But Labour's McGuinness said the investment had been secured after talks with Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Studies are now under way to determine how the new Metro route will work in practice, alongside design work for the three new stations, bridges and numerous additional infrastructure.