Steve White smiled on a sunny day as he started work tackling one of the toughest jobs in Sussex.

He has been appointed by Brighton and Hove City Council to manage its troubled waste collection and street cleaning contract.

It remains to be seen whether he is still smiling at the end of the next 18 months, the time councillors have given him to make the service work properly.

But the initial signs are good.

He starts with the full co-operation of the workforce and complaints about street sweeping and refuse collection have halved in the first two weeks of council operation.

There has been a long history of problems with rubbish collection in Brighton.

The old council-run service was a byword for inefficiency before the contract was let to the Spanish firm Fosca, which took it on as a loss leader.

Fosca never really got to grips with the peculiarities of rubbish in Brighton. Nor did the next operator, French-owned Ecovert South, which asked to be relieved of its contract before it had expired.

Now merged with Hove, the new combined council brought all its refuse and street sweeping contracts together and offered them to another French firm, Sita.

The result was a disaster, with 20 months of chaos and confusion. Sita, which was losing money, retired from the fray and it looked as if Serviceteam would be offered the new contract.

But its bid was so expensive the council decided on the unusual step of taking both services back in house. That is where Mr White comes in.

Although he is responsible to chief executive David Panter and environment director Alan McCarthy, Mr White will be the man on the ground at Hollingdean depot.

He is heading a team of 250 workers whose co-operation is vital to the success of the project.

Mr White has met other managers and is in the process of talking to the office staff. Then he will go out on rounds with the men.

To prove he is not afraid of getting his hands dirty, Mr White will also spend a day out with a street sweeping crew.

He comes to Brighton and Hove from the London borough of Lewisham, where he held a similar post. Before that, he was in charge of leisure, then building work. Mr White said: "My main skill is in management and in dealing with people. That is what will be important here.

"This is an exciting job and a tremendous challenge. I am confident with the good staff I have inherited we can deliver a good service."

Mr White said he was keen to improve the morale of the workforce after a difficult period and this already seemed to be happening.

He said: "They need to have a feeling of ownership and a sense of direction in raising achievements.

"I want to have their co-operation before looking at any new ways of delivering the service. We need to have a strong commitment."

Mr White, 39, said he needed to earn their respect as a man who had a feel for what was happening.

He said: "So far, I have been impressed by the staff and their willingness to see a cleaner Brighton and Hove."

People in the city might have to wait for a complete transformation but he said: "I'll guarantee that the service will be better than in the past.

"The message the workforce has given me is that they really want to succeed. It is not often a council takes a service back and we want to make the most of it. But we have only 18 months to change the culture and it is going to be hard work."

Already changes are being made. The men are being encouraged to have more of a say in how the service is being run and a regular news magazine is being produced for them.

Mr White is keen to encourage new ways of dealing with rubbish, such as recycling, which can reduce the amount left to collect.

He also wants to encourage community efforts to clear up rubbish, getting people more aware of the importance of clean streets.

Mr White said: "Brighton and Hove is a different environment but I am dealing with many of the same aims and problems I dealt with at Lewisham."

Environment director Alan McCarthy said: "Steve White has a lot of expertise in managing this type of service and I am very confident he will make a major contribution to the successful running of Brighton and Hove's waste collection and street-sweeping service."

Cabinet environment councillor Chris Morley, who is having a full meeting with Mr White within a few days, said: "There is already a new, improved atmosphere.

"Everyone has been very positive and it augurs well for the future. It is a tribute to all concerned."

Divorced with two children, Mr White does not know Brighton and Hove well but intends to move there to get the measure of the city.

Meanwhile, there is a feeling of hope at Hollingdean and he is not the only one smiling.