Rubbish collections in Brighton and Hove were delayed by two hours today as dustmen held an emergency meeting over working conditions.

Almost all the 100 refuse staff employed by the council's waste contractor Sita attended the meeting, which followed complaints by the public over late collections.

Staff said some customers had taken out their frustrations on them.

They asked company managers for better guidance after the biggest-ever efficiency drive in the town's history started last week.

Under it, the borough's 126,000 homes were divided into three new regions and pick-up times were changed.

Customers called in today to complain about the further disruption.

One, a careworker from Hove, said: "I couldn't believe it this morning when the rubbish was still out. The seagulls were pecking at it and causing a huge mess.

"We had to clean up the mess ourselves, which was a real pain."

Gary Smith, Brighton and Hove organiser for the general workers' union GMB, attended the meeting.

He said: "There are a lot of changes going on in the town. These have caused a high amount of frustration on everybody's part.

"Some of that has been taken out by the public on the workforce as people adapt to the new system."

He added: "There's never been a change like it. We are in a positive and ongoing dialogue with Sita. Our members are committed to delivering a first-class service."

This week Sita admitted up to 700 people a day were calling its hotline.

Richard Crawley, Brighton and Hove services general manager for Sita, said of today's meeting: "Some of the employees brought forward concerns about the situation.

"As a management team, we spoke about how we saw it and it ended on a positive note."