Pride festival organisers have been urged to make radical improvements to waste and recycling facilities for next year’s event.

Councillors and politicians have made the call in the aftermath of this year’s Pride, which took place at the weekend.

They said they were disappointed that Preston Park in Brighton, which hosts the main events, was once again left strewn with rubbish despite calls for improvements in recent years.

Brighton and Hove city councillor Amy Kennedy, who represents the Preston Park ward, congratulated the Pride team for staging a successful event but asked why more recycling bins had not been provided.

Coun Kennedy, of the Green Party, said: “Despite the damp weather for the parade, I’ve never seen so many happy faces on Brighton’s streets, and the party in the park was excellent.

“However, I was disappointed once again that waste was not properly managed at the event or during the clean-up afterwards.”

She said the bins and skip in Preston Park were “come one, come all” and much was destined for landfill sites.

Coun Kennedy said she had been told by Pride’s organisers that they were keen to improve recycling rates and had applied unsuccessfully to Brighton and Hove City Council for a grant to fund the project.

She said: “It’s not good enough that the Pride team weren’t given the support they needed from the local authority this year. They had some innovative ideas which could have set a standard for events in the city and I hope it will be a different story for next year’s Pride.”

The clean-up operation in Preston Park was being completed yesterday.

Coun Kennedy also said she had received complaints from residents about antisocial behaviour in Preston Park during Pride.