THE company which takes over Brighton and Hove's rubbish collection next month wanted to pull out of an agreement with a recycling organisation, the Argus can reveal.

Magpie Green Box Recycling was negotiating a £10,000 a month contract with Sita GB Ltd to collect reusable household waste in the two towns.

Sita is due to take over refuse collection and street cleansing from the three firms currently under contract to Brighton and Hove Council on November 1.

But, just days before the contract was due to begin, Sita bosses told Magpie they wanted to deal with recyclable waste themselves.

The news comes after angry dustmen brought the centre of Brighton to a halt on Friday as they protested outside the town hall against possible redundancies and pay and conditions planned by Sita.

And, during a lengthy meeting with Sita bosses, council chiefs ordered them to think again about dropping Magpie from their plans.

Magpie co-founder Paddy Johnston said: "We have been negotiating with Sita since May and all along the line they have been telling us the contract was ours.

"The council and the unions also understood that we were to get the contract, but now Sita has told us they want to do it themselves. They have had a big negotiating team in town to persuade the council that they are the right people to take over the refuse and cleansing services.

"I think it suited their purpose to show the council that they planned to have a community recycling service under contract to them.

"But we are a non-profit making concern and they see an opportunity to make money out of a recycling service.

"I don't think either the council or the unions are very happy about Sita changing its mind about giving us the contract."

Magpie was set up by three part-time volunteers in 1989 and began running a full-time collection service in 1992 from its Sanders Park View depot in Lewes Road, Brighton.

It now has 30 people and seven vehicles collecting reusable waste from more than 5,000 homes in Brighton and Hove.

Mr Johnston said: "Not getting the deal with Sita won't mean that we go out of business, but it will affect our plans to improve the service we run for the community."

Brighton and Hove Council has offered to mediate between Sita and Magpie following the decision.

A spokeswoman said: "The council has offered to sit in on meetings with Sita and Magpie to try to resolve the situation and to achieve an amicable settlement."

Sita operations director Mike Martin yesterday spent more than two hours locked in talks with Alan McCarthy, head of environmental services for Brighton and Hove.

Mr Martin said: "During the meeting Sita was reminded of its commitment to Magpie, which had become somewhat confused.

"As a result of that meeting we will now re-open a dialogue with Magpie. I would rather not comment further than that at this stage."

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