Dustmen have been bearing the brunt of criticism over the rubbish-filled streets in Brighton and Hove.

But, as I learned at the depot in Upper Hollingdean, it is not only the new rounds that are causing problems for dustmen.

They are hindererd daily by bins left in awkward places, long hours and the stinging criticism of the public.

Dustcarts have been coming and going out of the depot since 6.45am. I was assigned to the crew led by Colin Avey in the dustcart W6.

It was clear his regular team, John Marsden, Jim Clark and Lee Sheppard, with Doug Day from the agency, were at home with working with Colin.

The crew is short of a regular member because the tops of his fingers were cut by glass the previous week.

Lee Sheppard, 30, is the youngest of the team. He lives in a council house on the Whitehawk estate. He shows me scars from needles that have stuck in his arm and cuts from glass. He has a cracked rib and is sometimes in pain.

Despite the prospect of injury, none of the crew were complaining about the nature of the job. They like working outdoors, and the fact they can be home home with their families early.

"We are going to 'ove." said Colin, dropping the 'H' to make it sound posh.

At 7.23am W6 stops in Goldstone Villas just down from Hove Station for the first collections. Some residents have helpfully put their bags outside the front of their property.

But this is bedsit-land with a transient population and some residents have not bothered, meaning time-consuming journeys down basement steps to check no bags have been left uncollected.

Sixty-year-old Colin, from Moulsecoomb , said: "It is virtually impossible to do a round without missing a bag. People don't help us.

"They leave sacks in the most inaccessible places, then phone up and complain when we don't collect it."

He beckons me down a flight of steps to show me a huge basement stretching back underneath the pavement. It is pitch black.

The team have dubbed it "the basement from hell".

"How can we determine which is rubbish and which is not and find all the sacks?"

"The public could also take more bottles to the recycling bins. There are plenty around in Brighton."

As if to prove Colin's point, one small property in Livingstone Road had 12 bags ready for collection.

The crew works quietly and efficiently, loading bags into wheelie bins which are then lifted automatically in the back of the dustcart, which is constantly compressing the rubbish into the back of the van with a giant steel shutter.

There is already a smell surrounding the back of the cart, but the inside of the cab is clean and comfortable.

It is air conditioned, but the air conditioning is not working.

Colin says: "We could get it repaired, but we would lose this vehicle for a few days."

The crew were appalled to see builders had left a huge pile of rubble and wood on the corner of Eaton Villas in the hope they would take it away.

Colin said: "Some builders will leave out their rubbish, get us to take it away, and then charge their clients for rubbish disposal. That is not fair."

This crew could earn more by doing overtime but they have made it clear they will not do so.

Dustman are not badly paid; some senior charge hands earn £17,000 a year, and can reach the £20,000 with overtime.

The only person complaining about his wage was Doug from the agency, who was only getting £3.60 an hour.

Lee, a former agency worker, explained it took ages to get a regular job with Ecovert, the former rubbish contractor. Now he earns double the hourly rate of an agency worker.

The crews are already beginning to think of their Christmas tips and they fear they will be down this year following the change of rounds, which saw areas of the town without collections for five weeks.

Last year Colin and his team did well out of tips from households in Tongdean, in appreciation of their efficient service of the previous year.

The problem which saw Brighton's rubbish fall into chaos was the introduction of the new system based on 18 crews of four working five days a week in new areas.

One of the reasons was to bring the 26 different rates of pay Sita inherited from the former contractors into line, as well as make the rounds a uniform size.

Colin said: "Most of the lads live in Brighton and they don't want to be criticised by their friends about not doing their job properly or the fact the town is dirty.

"We take pride in our work and our town and the criticism hurts.

"We want to be able to be able to do our job in reasonable time without being given rounds that are virtually impossible to do."

It was clear Colin's crew could cope with the today's round, but they pointed out this was their easy day. Some days they start at 6.30am.

On some Fridays they are working until 5pm in Hove - a 14-hour shift.

Even on an easy day, Colin's crew does not take a tea or coffee break. They managed to snatch some cans of drinks, water and biscuits as they drive between roads.

John Marsden, 51, who also lives in Whitehawk, was 17 stone when he started last year. He now weighs 12.5 stone.

"It is hard work, but it is in the open air."