Brighton and Hove Council is having showdown talks with refuse contractors Sita as controversy over the service grows.

Councillors have been inundated with complaints about the bin and rubbish collection service in the past three weeks.

Politicians from all parties have demanded Sita improve its service following the decision to contract out all rubbish collection in the borough to the High Wycombe-based firm.

The recent lack of refuse collection in parts of Brighton and Hove is the result of a change in collection day and new rounds introduced by the company.

There was further anger at the weekend after the Radio 1 Dance Party on Madeira Drive on Friday night. Tonnes of litter was left on the beach.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "We are taking up the problems of the state of the beach with Sita. We are looking into how there can be greater accountability in the refuse collection service.

" We are going through the biggest single change ever in the refuse collection service. It is a mega task and Sita have promised to deliver a better service.

"We will be looking at the practicalities of holding events on Madeira Drive which spill on to the beach, and this will include Sita's role in clearing up afterwards."

The dance party attracted an estimated 25,000 people. Thousands of revellers spilled on to the beach leaving litter over a quarter of a mile section.

Holidaymakers, day trippers, residents and traders were disgusted by the mess they saw on Saturday and demanded to know why it had not been cleaned up more quickly.

Sita is responsible for cleaning the beach as well as the streets.

Many of the people attending the event had bought alcohol from supermarkets.

Some had made an effort to clear up their own mess by collecting their rubbish and putting it in plastic bags, but there were not enough bins for the tons of rubbish.

Day trippers who had made the journey down from London on one of the hottest days of the year hoping for a day of sun and sea bathing were amazed and disgusted by the state of the beach.

Caroline Bamford, 28, who had travelled from Croydon with her friend, Jo Hoskins, 23, said: "I felt like turning round and going straight home."

A spokeswoman for Radio 1 said: "For many months we have been working closely with Brighton and Hove Council as we have in previous years, and one of the arrangements was that the council takes responsibility of cleaning up after the show.

"We always encourage audiences to take their rubbish with them.

"We also encourage crowds to move away promptly after the show finishes and this two- hour event ended promptly at 11 pm."