Refuse collectors moved bin bags to get their truck down a street, then put the bags back and left.

For more than 40 years, binmen have turned up on the same day to collect rubbish from houses in Stonery Road and Drove Crescent, Portslade.

Residents of both streets leave sacks on the same service road, along which refuse collectors drive their truck.

Two different crews are responsible for collections from either side of the service road, which marks the boundary of two rounds.

Until a few weeks ago both collections were always made on the same day.

Now Brighton and Hove City Council's contractor Sita seems to have changed the rules.

Residents watched as a dustcart arrived three weeks ago and the crew got out and began moving the bags from one side of the service road to the other.

As the dustcart drove slowly along, they threw the bags from the Stonery Road side into the back of their lorry.

Then they moved the other bags back to the Drove Crescent side and drove off.

People on the Drove Crescent side expected their bags to be collected later that morning but the second crew only arrived the following day after residents complained to Sita and the council.

Stonery Road resident Denis Goatcher said: "It is madness the council allows this to happen, a real comedy of errors.

"It's like the lunatics have taken over the asylum. We expect to see men in white coats turn up to take the rubbish away next week.

"Why on earth can't just one crew be sent down the service road to collect rubbish from both sides on the same day?

"People put their rubbish out on a Tuesday night expecting it to be collected the next day.

"We couldn't believe it when they started moving the bags from one side of the road to the other and putting them back again.

"I used to be a dustman for Portslade Council and we never had all this nonsense about putting it out in bags to be collected.

"We used to hump the dustbins up and down long paths and we just got on with it."

Neighbour Dave Bonwick said: "I rang the council and was told it was because the two roads were on different collection rounds.

"The service road is only narrow, so all they had to do was stretch out and put bags from both sides in the back of the truck.

"The council said the Drove Crescent crew did not have time to collect on that side before their shift ended.

"I have never heard anything so ridiculous in my life. All they had to do was to get one crew to take all the bags, the way it had been done for years."

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: "We are aware of the problems and apologise to residents for the inconvenience.

"We are aware that neither round is collecting rubbish properly and have brought this to the attention of local Sita management.

"They have failed to take any effective action to prevent it from happening.

"We have asked them to ensure that common sense prevails and, in future, arrange a single collection for both sides of the service road.

"We will be closely monitoring Sita's performance in this area next week to make sure the situation improves."

The city council withdrew its contract with Sita earlier this year after the contractor failed to meet performance targets.

Sita did not reply to our requests for comment.