Eleventh-hour talks have averted a strike by binmen in Brighton and Hove.

Refuse workers met at the Hollingdean depot yesterday to discuss what action they could take in protest at new working practices.

Strike action was ruled out but staff accused management of being unwilling to negotiate.

Managers at Cityclean, the city council's in-house refuse service, introduced the measures, which include changes to rounds, as part of a long-term plan to make the service more efficient and meet Government recycling targets.

Workers say the changes have been introduced without consultation.

One said: "Management think everything is fine but they won't talk to us as a group."

He said staff had asked their GMB union reps to put into action the official procedure that would allow them to take industrial action but they did not want to strike.

GMB branch leader Mark Turner said he was seeking a meeting with management.

Brighton and Hove's refuse service has been blighted by unrest for more than five years and was highlighted by the Audit Commission as being one of the most expensive in the UK.

In October 2001, private contractor Sita handed back the service to the council following a breakdown in relations between workers and management that resulted in a strike.

The service was taken back in-house but the unrest has continued.

In August last year, employees refused to work the Saturday following the bank holiday after The Argus revealed they would each receive £230 for working the previous Saturday and taking the bank holiday Monday off.

On February 24 and 25 this year, binmen called a wildcat strike over the suspension of colleague and union representative Richard Warren.

He had been escorted from the premises following a verbal altercation with a supervisor.

He remains suspended while an investigation is carried out.