A LITTLE boy was “lucky” not to lose one of his toes when he stepped in broken glass next to an overflowing bin during the strike.

Jonathan Clarke was walking with his mum Elena and their golden retriever when he stepped on the base of a broken glass jar left by a recycling bin in Saltdean Vale yesterday afternoon.

Elena, 41, said blood started “spraying everywhere” and she rushed Johnathan to the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton for treatment.

The Argus: Jonathan's school shoe was split by the glassJonathan's school shoe was split by the glass

Doctors feared the 10-year-old’s little toe had been “completely cut off” by the glass and sent him for an X-ray.

Elena said: “Jonathan just didn’t see the glass and he was holding our dog at the time. He stepped on the base of the jar, which is the heaviest part, and it had already been smashed.

“It went straight through his school shoe, cut it in half and then it went straight through his foot. We needed to go straight to hospital.

The Argus: The wound on Jonathan's foot after stepping on the glassThe wound on Jonathan's foot after stepping on the glass

“They X-rayed it because they thought he had cut the little toe completely off. Luckily, he hasn’t, and he doesn’t need surgery, but he will be at home for the next few days.

“He’s feeling a bit sorry for himself because he had just got into a new football team and he’s not going to be able to play any football for a while.”

Jonathan, who attends Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School in Rottingdean, needed four stitches and skin glue to treat his wound.

The Argus: Rubbish and recycling has been piled by bins in SaltdeanRubbish and recycling has been piled by bins in Saltdean

Waste has been piling up at overflowing bins across the city over the last two weeks after Brighton’s Cityclean, recycling, commercial waste and HGV drivers went on strike.

Elena said she is concerned that other people could be injured by the glass and other rubbish that has been left in piles next to bins in Saltdean, and other areas of Brighton and Hove.

She told The Argus: “The whole of Saltdean is in a state. If you go to the recycling centres where we are, we have rats and mice running around.

“The streets are overflowing. We have had three weeks of no bin or recycling collections around Saltdean.

“The dog nearly stepped in the glass as well. There’s just so much in the area and it’s not just dangerous for us, it’s dangerous for the animals too.

“It’s just a mess up here.”

Yesterday, refuse collection drivers accepted a deal aimed at ending a dispute over pay and working conditions.

The GMB said its members in Brighton and Hove voted in favour of an agreement, which will now go before councillors.

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