Burger King has been fined for leaving a whopper of a mess in a city centre street.

Piles of black bin liners were left outside the fast food giant in North Street, Brighton.

A warning not to leave the pavement in the busy street blighted with the trash was ignored. Days later the restaurant again left a high pile of stinking rubbish bags.

At Brighton Magistrates Court manager Suhail Khan, 37, admitted two offences of fly-tipping trade waste on December 8 and 12 last year.

Khan, of Roderick Avenue, Peacehaven, was fined £1,200 and ordered to pay £520 costs.

Len Batten, prosecuting, said on December 8 Cityclean enforcement officers on patrol saw 13 bags of rubbish dumped on the pavement outside the restaurant.

The manager was contacted and on December 13 a letter was delivered to him asking him to attend a meeting with the council to discuss the fly-tipping.

But the next day another Cityclean patrol found more sacks of rubbish in exactly the same place.

Khan told magistrates staff who dumped the rubbish had been given warnings. He said: "My managers and staff knew they should not be doing it."

The council's environment councillor Geoffrey Theobald said: "We are very pleased with that magistrates are imposing tough penalties on those who litter our city streets.

"Dumping trade waste is a criminal offence and this council will not hesitate to take legal action against offenders. The message is clear leave your rubbish on our streets and you'll end up in court."