Binmen are being abused by frustrated residents for explaining recycling rules to them.

National figures, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that there were 160 attacks on binmen during the year – more than three every week.

One of the incidents involved council workers in Worthing being abused by an angry resident.

The attack happened after the binmen told a householder that nuts and bolts should not have been put in with the recycling collection.

Paul Yallop, the leader of Worthing Borough Council, said such abuse was thankfully rare with his authority's binmen.

Campaigners for regular bin collections have pointed to the myriad of rules that govern refuse for the reason behind the frustration.

Residents in Brighton have rung The Argus angry at delays in collection over the holiday period by Brighton and Hove City Council.

In October last year the boss of Adur and Worthing council's refuse collection service claimed that impatient drivers were putting his workers in danger.

Operations manager David Whitmore said there had been an increase in near-misses caused by drivers trying to pass refuse trucks.