LONDON (AP) — A strike by garbage collectors in the Scottish capital entered its ninth day on Saturday, health officials say stinking piles of garbage on the streets of Edinburgh are threatening public health and safety. I warned you.

The warning from Public Health Scotland came as garbage collectors in London’s borough of Newham also walked away for a week over wage disputes.

Images of food waste and rotting diapers on the streets amid soaring food and energy costs and escalating labor unrest are adding to the chaos in Britain. Warnings were issued last week to stay away from dozens of beaches in Britain after heavy rains spilled sewage into rivers and the sea.

Public Health Scotland has told local authorities that “public areas where the bottles have overflowed may need to be decontaminated”. “The accumulation of organic waste can pose a danger to human health,” he warned.

The garbage collector will be leaving on August 18th and will be out of work until August 30th. More strikes are in store if wage disputes are not resolved.

The UK is facing a major cost-of-living crisis, with wage growth lagging behind inflation that reached 10.1% last week. These financial challenges are only compounded by rising energy costs. A UK resident will see her annual energy bill increase by 80% in October, officials said.

The country has been hit by a series of strikes this summer, with a rail strike effectively shutting down public transport for several days. Primary schools and nurseries in Glasgow, Scotland’s largest city, will be forced to close for several days next month if parliamentary workers go on strike.

In London, Newham Council garbage trucks launched a week-long strike on Saturday, with union officials warning there could be more. Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said these workers were paid less than other workers at neighborhood councils.

“The council must now focus on reaching an agreement with workers who are facing a financial crisis,” Graham said. “Failure to do so would undoubtedly mean more industrial action in the coming days.”

Britain’s image took a hit this summer. French MEPs in the European Parliament said this week that raw sewage dumped into rivers and seas by the UK is threatening the European Union’s beaches, fishing grounds and biodiversity.

Parts of the UK’s sewer system have been overwhelmed after several days of unseasonably heavy rain.

___

Follow all AP stories on the environment at https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment.