Fury as refuse workers attacked and abused 108 times in a year sparking demands for them to be given bodycams

REFUSE workers have been attacked and abused 108 times in the past year, figures reveal. Union bosses want all bin crews and street cleaners to be provided with bodycams. Bin men have been attacked and abused 108 times in the past year, shock figures reveal Credit: Alamy Union bosses want all bin crews and street cleaners to be provided with bodycams Credit: Alamy Cases included a worker being headbutted by a householder angry that not all of their rubbish was taken away in Knowsley, Merseyside. In Walsall, police were called after a bin loader was punched in the face. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Manchester City Council reported a street cleaner being beaten with their own litter-picking stick. In Brent, North West London, a worker was mugged of his phone, while another had their wrist broken by a man with a metal bar. In Newcastle, a motorist held up by a refuse truck reversed their car into a collector, knocking them off their feet. Meanwhile, a crew member in Enfield, North London, had what turned out to be a fake gun pointed at him. Birmingham City Council, hit by a long-standing strike, said a street cleaner suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after a attack and racial abuse. Kirklees Council in West Yorks reported a worker being racially abused after refusing to take contaminated rubbish. Most read in The Sun Three men were jailed for a total of 18 years last year for two co-ordinated assaults in Stoke. Will Dalton, of union GMB, said of the findings, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act: “Every single day refuse workers come across aggression, verbal abuse, and physical violence.” He said they needed bodycams “like many other public-facing workers” to help deter aggressors and bring them to justice. The Local Government Association said: “Any attack on a refuse collector, verbal or physical, is completely unacceptable.” Comment now