There was no last-minute deal to salvage the fractured relationship between Brighton and Hove City Council and its refuse, recycling and street cleaning staff.

By the time you read this, industrial action will have begun which will see rubbish and dirt mounting in the streets during one the busiest periods of the year.

It is worth reflecting on how our city leaders got us into this mess.

The rot set in under previous administrations following the merger of Brighton, Hove and parts of East Sussex. Whether through pusillanimity or political machination, the nettle of inequitable pay grades was not grasped.

The current Green leadership adopted what might be called the Pontius Pilate method of industrial negotiations and passed the buck to council officers.

The unions, for their part, have played hard ball, emphasising the worst case scenarios and remaining mute on the fact that many low paid workers will be better off under new pay grades.

Whatever the rights and wrongs on each side of the impasse, the real losers are the city’s residents and businesses.

For their sakes both sides need to use imagination and comprise to find a solution.

The current situation is intolerable.

The message must go out loud and clear to the negotiators on both sides of the table: this stinks.