Striking Brighton and Hove refuse workers stage march and rally

The march went through the centre of Brighton

Striking refuse and recycling workers in Brighton and Hove have held a march and rally over proposed cuts to their take-home pay.

GMB union members began a week-long strike on Friday - the union says staff face pay cuts of up to £4,000 a year.

The march went through the centre of Brighton, with speeches outside the council's headquarters.

The authority apologised to residents and said "as much rubbish as possible" had been removed prior to the strike.

Speaking during the march, refuse collector Martin Jeffries said: "It's not right for low-paid council workers to have their pay cut. This gets the message out.

"We do apologise to the general public, who are in the firing line between us and the council."

Council chief executive Penny Thompson said while some staff would gain from the proposals, others would see a reduction and receive compensation.

The council is offering the worst-affected employees one-off compensation payments of an average of £3,000.