Piles of rubbish festering in Edinburgh's streets are "deeply concerning" for public health, the Deputy First Minister has conceded as the bin strike spread across Scotland and unions warned of a "winter of discontent".
John Swinney said the "condition" of the Scottish capital was worrying "on a host of levels" including public health, with bins overflowing for days and streets strewn with litter during the city's fringe and international festivals.
Binmen started week-long strikes in 13 other council areas on Wednesday, including SNP-run Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dundee. Mr Swinney held further talks with council and trade union chiefs in an attempt to broker a deal.
But he insisted the row was a matter for local authorities and trade unions to resolve and blamed division in the SNP-led umbrella group that is conducting the negotiations on behalf of Scotland's 32 councils.
The Deputy First Minister said it was "frustrating" that Labour and Tory council leaders in the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) had voted to delay making a five per cent pay offer to workers by a "critical" week.
But Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, accused Mr Swinney of trying to "abdicate" responsibility and attacked "the dither, delay and disinformation we've seen from the SNP".
The blame game intensified as union leaders warned the strikes were "here for the long haul" with three waves of walkouts targeting Edinburgh, waste collections across Scotland and then schools.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists who have flocked back to the Edinburgh Fringe and International festivals for the first time since the pandemic have been forced to endure litter piling up on the streets since the strike started last Thursday.
Wendy Dunsmore, Unite's industrial officer, warned her members were preparing to bring about a "winter of discontent" and asked: "Who knows where we are going to go next?"
The warning heaped further pressure on Nicola Sturgeon's government to provide more funding to break the deadlock, with both sides in the talks writing to Mr Swinney asking for more cash.
Speaking at a press conference in the Scottish capital, he said: "I think the condition of the city of Edinburgh just now is deeply concerning on a host of levels, not least in relation to public health.
"So I acknowledge the significance of the issue which is why I want to see the industrial action resolved, why I would prefer it didn't spread to other parts of the country."
He emphasised that the Scottish government had already provided £140 million extra to councils so they could increase their pay offer to five per cent and warned there were "limitations" on more assistance being provided.
Mr Swinney accused non-SNP council leaders in Cosla of failing to recognise "the seriousness of the situation" and reiterated that local authorities rather than the government were the "employers" who had to resolve the row.
But Mr Sarwar accused SNP ministers of being "missing in action" in a dispute that was national rather than local and said he would be "working night and day" to resolve it if he was in government.
"Frankly, workers, local residents and tourists in Edinburgh deserve better than this misinformation campaign we've seen from the SNP," the Scottish Labour leader said.
Enough lies and deflection from the SNP. They must get round the table and deliver for workers and communities in Edinburgh and across Scotland. https://t.co/Lmxk2tIUX7
"If you want to abdicate the responsibility, fine. Get out of the way. I'm more than happy to get into this position of power, and actually use the powers of our parliament for the interests of working people across this country, not using it as a political football to try and point fingers and score goals."
Ms Dunsmore said the five per cent offer equated to an average £900 pay rise but SNP ministers needed to match the £1,925 boost being given to local government workers in the rest of the UK.
She said: "Our members are demanding a better pay rise, and who knows where we are going to go next? We're looking for a winter of discontent, even though we're just approaching autumn."
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