Binmen are working overtime today to clear piles of rubbish from the city's streets.

Residents of more than 100 streets in Brighton and Hove have been waiting for rubbish collections since Christmas.

A council spokesman has promised most of the backlog of rubbish sacks which has been piling up for two weeks would be cleared by the end of the day.

Ten crews will be on the streets to help get the job done, although the deadline for collections to return to normal is a week on Monday.

The spokesman said: "These problems happen every year around Christmas because there are three bank holidays in a week.

"They are doing five days' work in four to catch up."

But binmen said the delays had not been caused by bank holidays.

A Sita worker claimed they had not been given enough trucks to clean the streets and had to take time off rounds to dump rubbish at the tip.

He said: "When we arrived at work after the New Year a lot of us ended up sitting around for hours waiting for a suitable vehicle.

"The last crew left at 10.30am, more than three hours late.

"We can understand the frustration of the public but there is little we can do when we have to sit around waiting."

The council said Sita had put on 35 trucks - 11 more than usual - to clear rubbish piling up outside shops and homes.

A spokesman for the GMB union said: "Our members are working very hard to get the refuse collected."

Sita was unavailable for comment.