COVENTRY’S residents are demanding that the city’s Labour-run council ends a long-running bin strike by meeting workers’ “reasonable pay demands,” a new survey reveals.

The Survation poll, commissioned by the Unite union, suggests that two-thirds of people in the West Midlands city believe pay rates of up to £17 an hour for striking HGV drivers is not asking too much.

Less than a quarter – 23 per cent – think the amount, which Unite said is paid to workers in nearby Birmingham, is unreasonable.

A whopping 92 per cent argue that the local authority should prioritise resolving the dispute, which began in January when 70 staff walked out. 

The research also shows that most residents aged over 55 – the cohort most likely to turnout in Thursday’s local elections – have an “unfavourable opinion” of Coventry’s Labour councillors, Unite warned. 

General secretary Sharon Graham said: “Only a foolish council would ignore such clear and direct instructions from their own residents.

“It’s not complicated, just pay the rate and get these drivers back to work.”

Strikers and their supporters are set to stage another rally in the city tomorrow. 

The council was contacted for comment.