Sick postcards threatening people not to complain about a council’s refuse service have terrified some of their targets.

The vile cards, which show a photograph of a pig, carry hand-scrawled notes warning their recipients not to complain about CityClean, Brighton and Hove City Council’s waste collector.

They are littered with spelling and grammar errors and are unsigned. One was sent to 62-year-old George Mower of Hardwick Road, Hangleton.

He had written to The Argus earlier this month, complaining about rubbish on the streets in central Hove.

In it he criticised CityClean staff for “not doing their job properly” and slammed the council for not caring about the state of the city’s streets.

The card addressed to him menacingly read: “We would like to keep this amicable as your (sic) probably an old geezer”, intimating that if he was a younger man the repercussions would be even worse.

Mr Mower said: “When I opened it I was annoyed more than anything, annoyed that someone had the nerve to threaten me. I think it’s pathetic. Whoever is responsible for this has either got half a brain or no life and they certainly haven’t got any guts.

“It all points to a rogue binman but it could also be someone who wants it to appear that way.”

Mr Mower said he took the postcard down to CityClean and was told by its depot manager that he would compare the handwriting with that of all other members of his staff.

The two other recipients had also complained about Cityclean through The Argus’s letters page and were quoted in articles on the changes to the refuse collections in November which left several weeks’ rubbish piling up on the streets.

The postcards, all of the same design, were made by Leo Cards and have Eastbourne written on the back. They also show an Eastbourne telephone number but without the extra 1 in the area code, indicating they date from before 1995. Sue Prior, of Woodruff Avenue, Brighton, said she was terrified when she opened the card.

Along with dozens of other people around the city she had complained to The Argus in November about the collection changes. She said: “I couldn’t believe it. It’s so threatening. Whoever has done this is a nasty piece of work.”

The card Mrs Prior received complained of the lack of a Christmas tip. She had not given a tip in protest at the bungled service.

The third card was written to a pensioner from Hollingdean who asked not to be named.

It read: “You idiot, next time you write to The Argus we won’t collect your box.”

It said the pensioner’s comments made a tough job harder. It also threatened that cat faeces would be put through the door.

The pensioner said: “I felt threatened and quite vulnerable when I opened it.

“All I had complained about was the £75 charge for putting out your recycling box on the wrong day. It’s disgraceful that you can be threatened with such terrible things.”

Last night police and the council were trying to find out who was responsible. A council spokesman said: “This is absolutely deplorable and we’d like to thank Mr Mower for bringing it to our attention.

“At the moment we have no way of knowing if it has been sent by a council employee but we are investigating this as a matter of urgency.”

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said officers were investigating the incidents as crimes of malicious communication and urged anyone else who had received such letters to call 0845 6070999.