Talks to resolve Brighton and Hove's bin crisis broke down last night after refuse bosses withdrew a controversial £230 Bank Holiday bonus.

Rubbish has been piling up on the city streets since Monday because of a dust-up between union and managers at the council's in-house contractors CityClean over the payment.

Last night, in a second summit called to resolve the growing crisis, CityClean leaders said they would only pay half the bonus because of chaos caused by the collectors' refusal to work the proposed 'catch-up week'.

Under the £230 plan, the collection schedule was to have been put back a day to make up for Monday's holiday.

But instead of collecting Monday's rubbish on Tuesday, collectors stuck to their usual pattern leaving Monday's bin bags lying in the streets.

Adverts and leaflets distributed across the city informing residents of the change in collection day have added to the confusion and in many parts of Brighton and Hove rubbish is piling up outside homes.

CityClean is now only willing to pay out £115 to workers on condition that collections are back to normal by Friday, September 5.

Gill Mitchell, chairman of the city's environment committee, said: "Why should we give them the extra money if they haven't done the job?

"They have created confusion among the public and left rubbish on the streets."

The Argus revealed the bonus, part of an arrangement between the union and the city council, was costing taxpayers £180,000 this year.

Binmen claimed they had been sworn and spat at by members of the public when details of the payout were published.

GMB branch secretary Mark Turner said although the workforce was unhappy about the reaction prompted by the article in The Argus, they were also concerned about changes in practice.

These include the introduction of recycling rounds and communal bins.

He claimed management had also breached an agreement on the staffing level of street cleansing teams by refusing to replace an HGV driver who stepped down from his job.

He said: "We guaranteed all the rubbish would be collected by Saturday, subject to certain things being put in place where agreements have been broken over staffing levels.

"We also wanted a pledge that future agreements would not be broken. But management refused this offer.

"They wanted us to bring the service back in line for a smaller sum of money than the amount published in The Argus. We were not willing to accept that."

Coun Mitchell added: "They may say they can get everything back in line by Saturday but we are not confident they can. It seems like an empty promise."

More talks are planned but both sides appear to be becoming more entrenched as the crisis deepens.

Meanwhile, residents are still waiting for rubbish to be collected.

Maura Muir, of Baxter Street, Brighton, said: "We pay our council tax and this place is starting to look like a tenement. The seagulls are having a field day."