Troubled waste firm Sita has been criticised by union leaders in two more authorities for its poor performance.

The company, responsible for collecting rubbish in Brighton and Hove, has come under fire by trade unions in Berkshire and Greater Manchester for poor service.

Tory councillor Geoffrey Theobald put forward a motion to terminate Sita's contract at a recent council policy and resources committee meeting.

The move followed a flood of complaints about dirty streets and uncollected rubbish in Brighton and Hove.

Bob Middleton, regional industrial organiser for the Transport and General Workers Union in Slough, Berkshire, said there had been thousands of complaints from residents about the inadequate service there.

He said: "Sita has been responsible for refuse collection in Slough for 14 months now and we have had problems right from the beginning.

"Two months ago we had 2,000 complaints from residents saying that they hadn't had their bins emptied. At one point it looked like we would have to take industrial action.

"We are in negotiations with them at the moment and hope to put the service quickly back on track."

Mike Williamson, branch secretary of the GMB union in Oldham, Greater Manchester, said the council had awarded the refuse collection contract to its own work force earlier this year after constant complaints about the service Sita provided.

He said: "Sita was a big headache to us. They managed refuse collection here for five years until this Easter and we were glad to see the back of them. The people of Oldham were constantly complaining about not having their rubbish collected.

"They also had a demoralising effect on the workforce. They cut workers holiday entitlements by five days, they cut sick pay and employed other workers at a lower rate of pay on a different contract."

Mark Turner of the GMB in Brighton said the problems here had been compounded by a lack of communication between managers and workforce.

He said: "Workers have had no consistency of management. They have had a dozen contract managers in one year.

"There was no consultation with the union before the contract started.

"Because of this they bought the wrong vehicles, which disrupted rounds. They should have bought narrow-body vehicles to negotiate the streets of Brighton. If we are to improve the service there needs to be much more open dialogue."