Nine dustmen have been suspended after they were accused of taking unofficial industrial action, leaving rubbish piling up on the streets.

Four were suspended yesterday and five on Monday as managers launched an investigation into their conduct.

The men are from four crews and are accused of being involved in action which has meant they have not been completing their refuse rounds.

Brighton and Hove City Council, which runs the in-house refuse service Cityclean, has said it will not be held to ransom by a small number of crews from the Hollingdean depot in Brighton who are being blamed for causing disruption to the service.

A council spokesman said: "We are taking positive action against instances of unofficial industrial action, which are continuing to disrupt services in isolated parts of the city.

"We've firmly resolved to settle this unofficial action and neither the council nor residents will be held to ransom by a handful of people any longer."

Cityclean managers reorganised refuse rounds in Brighton and Hove last month to distribute the workload more equally.

Several crews claimed they could not clear the refuse on the new rounds, which has led to bags of rubbish going uncollected. Managers have audited the rounds and say they are workable.

The council spokesman said investigations into unofficial action were focused on four crews out of 20.

He said: "In areas suffering unofficial action the service has been badly affected and we understand and share residents' frustration. The vast majority of households are getting a normal service and relations between most crews and management are fine."

Residents' frustration boiled over on Friday when they built a 5ft barrier of rubbish bags on a Hanover street, blocking traffic.

Refuse workers say morale is at rock bottom. According to the Audit Commission, the service is one of the most expensive in the UK yet not one of the best performing.

The GMB union, representing the crews, is holding a meeting tonight to discuss authorisation of a ballot for industrial action which could include striking.