Good Samaritan community heroes who borrowed a lorry and cleaned their own streets of maggot-infested bin bags have been branded a ‘scab army’.

Bearded Broz, a group of Muslim men, won high praise last week when they took four truckloads of rubbish to Tyseley tip on behalf of frustrated neighbours in Small Heath who had not seen a collection in weeks because of the bin strike.

But in an opinion piece which harks back to 1970s ‘us and them’ politics, Communist newspaper the Morning Star has criticised the group for breaking the strike.

“A dispute over in Birmingham continues to escalate after a ‘scab army’ of volunteers has been clearing pile ups of rubbish,” wrote journalist Steve Sweeney.

“The community group, known as Bearded Broz, are encouraging people to join their scab operation as they undermine the strike by Birmingham City Council refuse workers over job losses.”

Scab was the term of abuse used during bitter long-running industrial disputes such as the 1980s miners strike. It referred to workers who turned up, or were brought in, for work while their colleagues were on strike.

Matt Bennett, Conservative councillor for Edgbaston, was outraged by the criticism.

“What a disgusting way to refer to residents who don’t want to live in filth,” he said on social media.

The Bearded Broz are not paid workers, just people who wanted the dirt and filth removed from their neighbourhood.

In interviews they were also more critical of the city council than the striking binmen.

Following their action in Small Heath, they have also helped with community clear-ups in other areas, including Kings Norton and Kingstanding.

Naveed Sadiq, of the Bearded Broz, dismissed the Morning Star attack as a ‘few keyboard warriors’ kicking off’.

“We’re on the binmen’s side,” he said. “We’ve spoken to some of them.

“Having done their jobs, we realise what hard work it is. They are worth every penny. The council needs to sort this out.

“But we will not stand by and do nothing with our streets in this state.”

The Midlands Communist Party of Britain sought to defend the Morning Star, tweeting: “The criticism is not people cleaning streets, but a complete lack of understanding of the issues of the strike.”

Meanwhile, the binmen are stepping up their industrial action today, and will now stagger walk-outs throughout the day .

There will be one-hour strikes at 7am, 10.30am and 1.30pm. Council bosses believe this effectively means that very few bins will be emptied because the industrial action is accompanied by a work-to-rule, with bin crews returning to their depot for tea and lunch breaks which fall between the strike times at around 9am and 12.30pm.

Despite reported progress on the negotiations last week , talks seem to have stalled, suggesting more misery for residents.