Brighton waste piles up as binmen strike

The council said it expected collections to resume from Monday, but further disruption is anticipated

Residents have been asked to take their rubbish to the tip themselves after a two-day strike by binmen in Brighton led to missed collections.

Brighton and Hove council said residents across the city did not have rubbish collected after the unofficial strike over pay and allowances.

It said people should await their next collection or go to a recycling centre.

The GMB union said its members in the council's Cityclean department were to be balloted for industrial action.

Council chief executive Penny Thompson said the council had put forward proposals to ensure "fair and consistent" pay and allowances for 8,000 staff affected.

'Huge cuts planned'

The council has been in talks with binmen about pay and allowances

She said proposed changes had little or no impact on about 90% of staff, and out of the 10% affected most would see an improvement, with compensation provided to those who were negatively affected.

But Charles Harrity, GMB senior organiser, said the dispute was over "plans to make huge cuts to their take-home pay".

He said the ballot followed "months of fruitless negotiation" and if members voted for strike action there could be a stoppage next month.

Brighton council said there was no service on Wednesday or Thursday and crews were not working on Saturday under the bank holiday schedule.

It said residents who normally had collections on Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays had not had collections this week, and many residents who normally had a Friday collection may not have had their recycling or refuse collected.

The council said it was aware of disruption across the city but was currently unable to deal with individual cases.

It said it expected collections to resume from Monday, but it anticipated further disruption.