Talks between unions and the city council have broken down and tomorrow's four hour strike is on.

The GMB announced this morning that after meeting members this morning at Hollingdean Depot the drivers have rejected the Brighton and Hove City Council's proposals to end the current dispute and the strikes will continue. 

Mark Turner of the GMB said: “We have had a number of discussions with Council officers which culminated in a proposal they put forward to attempt to avert current action.

"Unfortunately our members rejected this because the timeframes that were set by the Council weren’t considered reasonable and they still have little confidence that management would meaningfully look at their job description and take into account the professional element of their driving licence.

"During the negotiations we have identified inconsistencies within the implementation of the job evaluation scheme which the Council are yet to address.

"Our members have little or no trust in local management adhering to their proposed timetable.

"We have informed the council today of the position, but have clearly stated that we are willing to continue discussions to attempt to resolve the situation

"We can only apologise again for the effect this has on the public but this is not of our members making and we have been trying to resolve this for an considerable number of weeks before taking any Industrial action.”

Warren Morgan, Leader of the Labour and Co-operative Group, condemned the strike action.

He said: “Residents will have run out of patience on this and we do not see that further action is justified in light of the offer from the council.

"We urge those taking action to think again and return to work, so that people across the city who have no part in this dispute can once again have their bins collected.”

In statement, a spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "We're really sorry for the disruption the continuing industrial action is causing across the city.

"All crews are out on their scheduled rounds, including the communal refuse and recycling crews, There are also two spare crews out collecting refuse, who will be focussing on the Preston Park area (including Waldegrave Road) and Hanover.

"During the industrial action we are limited in our ability to provide additional resources to catch up any missed collections as the drivers continue to 'work to rule'.

"If your collection has been missed please leave your containers out and we will catch up when we can.

"We are continuing discussions with the GMB union and looking at a full service redesign to ensure we meet the needs of the city and to resolve work to rule.

"Again we apologise for the ongoing service disruption."