Thousands of households are to have their rubbish collected on different days in a huge refuse collection shake-up.

About 80 per cent of homes in Brighton and Hove will be affected, in the first major change since the council took over the then-struggling refuse collection service seven months ago.

The changes, scheduled to be introduced in late July, mean collections will be broadly similar to before sacked contractor Sita took over.

There will be similar alterations to street cleaning arrangements, starting at the beginning of next month.

Binmen backed the shake-up, drawn up jointly by Brighton and Hove City Council and trade unions, at a meeting at the Hollingdean depot.

The depot had been the focus of angry scenes as relations between workers and private contractor Sita plummeted, culminating in a walk- out and five-day occupation by binmen.

The walk-out led to Sita losing the contract and the council bringing the service back in-house, last October.

Mark Turner, of the GMB union, said: "We are happy on the basis that we are now going to have a coherent round reorganisation.

"Inevitably people will be affected but it will deliver a better service to the public. We just want to get on with doing the round reorganisation so it has a minor impact on the public and they get the service they deserve."

A council spokes-woman said: "We aim to prove that an in-house service can work for the residents of Brighton and Hove, giving them an efficient, cost-

effective service that ensures value for their council tax.

"All householders can expect to receive a leaflet detailing the new collection days and we will make every effort to publicise the alter-ations."

There will be no job losses and many part-time staff, particularly those working on street cleaning, will get full-time contracts as part of the package.