Teacher Lesley-Ann Brennan staged a one-woman sit-in at council offices in protest at uncollected rubbish.

The mother-of-three held her protest at the Brighton and Hove Council offices, in Bartholomew Square, Brighton, yesterday saying police would have to drag her out unless mountains of bags were collected from the block of flats where she lives.

Mrs Brennan said she was forced into action after 40 black bin bags of rubbish accumulated at the flats in Church Street, Brighton, during the last three weeks.

Mrs Brennan, 52, who teaches at Tyedean Pre-School in Telscombe Cliffs, said: "People are driven to this, I was driven to do this, for the health and safety of my immediate family, my neighbours and my own sanity."

The final straw came when Mrs Brennan opened a cupboard under her kitchen sink to be confronted with a rat.

She said: "When I saw the rat I was shocked and depressed. If there's one there could be hordes of them. I'm not living in some Third world country. Seeing that rat just blew my mind."

Mrs Brennan shares the second floor flat with her 27-year-old daughter Kerry. They moved to Brighton from Hammersmith in London three years ago to live in a cleaner and healthier environment.

Mrs Brennan said: "When I spoke to environmental health at the council I had a lecture from some jumped-up graduate about the breeding habits of rats. It was so patronising. I just wanted them to come round and clear the rubbish, not a lecture about rats."

Mrs Brennan put on rubber gloves and collected up to 20 bags dotted and created a bin bag trail from the road into the flats, leading to the room at the back of the flats so the dustmen would find the rubbish mountain.

After creating the trail Mrs Brennan stormed into the council offices to state her case and sat there for more than an hour until she had been assured the mountain of bags had been removed.

A spokesman for Brighton and Hove Council said the rubbish was removed by SITA as soon as the council was made aware of the problem and a council officer visited the site to ensure the job had been done.

Sita declined to comment on the incident.