Being arrested has done nothing to deter the organiser behind the strike by Wiltshire's waste collection staff, he tells us.

Gary Palmer, the regional organiser for the GMB union, says he was arrested yesterday morning while picketing in Salisbury but still came over to join the Trowbridge strike after he was released.

"The police will be interviewing me later," he said.

"It is worth it. These guys are worth it. We've got to do what we've got to do, and if this brings publicity or change then it's a good thing.

"I'll be there again tomorrow."

Mr Palmer explained that the reason he was arrested was for obstruction of the highway, which prevented a company's drivers from getting out of the site.

He said: "The police said I was obstructing. I wasn't obstructing. I just happened to be stood, having a conversation trying to speak to the drivers, but they wanted to get out quicker."

"In the end, the company asked for the police to have me arrested and move so they could get their vehicles out."

Wiltshire Police is yet to confirm any arrests.

READ MORE: Video emerges of waste truck allegedly hitting bin strikers

Mr Palmer believes that the power is in the hands of Hills Waste Solutions to pay the workers fairly - and that this is the only way for them to move forward.

He said: "Hills have got some vehicles out but we've disrupted that and we'll continue to disrupt that. And we will change our game so that whatever they do to get vehicles out we will make sure that those vehicles are late leaving the depots, are slow doing the rounds and don't complete the work.

"It's a war of attrition now.

"And if that's the way that Hills want to play it and don't want to speak to us, that's the way we'll react. That's what we're pretty good at at the GMB, we know how to put in a long campaign and that's what we'll do."

Wiltshire Council announced the suspension of recycling services yesterday afternoon in response to the effects of the strikes.

The strike, which is set to last for two weeks, was called because workers wanted a seven per cent pay rise and the company offered two per cent.

Last week Hills increased its offer, to a figure that the GMB union indicated was less than seven per cent, but this was rejected by the union’s members, who are also striking at Hills’ Calne depot.