Just when residents thought their problems with refuse collection were over, uncollected rubbish bags have been piling up for more than three weeks.

Some people in Grand Avenue, Hove, have watched bags of rubbish accumulate for almost a month, despite repeated calls to Brighton and Hove City Council.

One resident, Lisa Henshaw, contacted us in frustration.

She said: "The pile of bags is massive now. There are rats out there and it is disgusting. This has been an ongoing problem for months with the rubbish not being collected.

"This latest lot has not been picked up for three weeks.

"We have asked the environmental people to collect it and they have promised to but it's still here."

The rubbish belongs to a block of six flats and other properties in Grand Avenue, who use a service alley between Grand Avenue and Second Avenue to dispose of their rubbish.

Miss Henshaw and her partner Craig Hutson have lived in their flat for a year.

She said: "It was all right for the first six months we lived here. Then they would pick it up some weeks and not others and now they have not come for at least three."

Problems with the city's rubbish collection hit the headlines last summer, when dustmen went on strike over working conditions with the refuse contractor Sita, which was eventually sacked by Brighton and Hove City Council.

The council took on the rubbish service in-house after a suitable contractor could not be found.

Since then, the problems have improved, although Alan McCarthy, deputy chief executive of the council, told a Brunswick and Adelaide ward meeting in January: "We haven't got it totally right yet. The companies we have employed have mismanaged the service.

"We have only been managing the service for two-and-a-half months but I hope you have seen some improvements."

He said the council had appointed an officer to deal with anyone who had a recurring problem with refuse not being collected.

A council spokesman said: "The refuse has not been cleared recently from this alleyway because in recent visits our refuse collectors have had problems gaining suitable access because of cars being parked in it.

"But we do recognise that the refuse needs to be cleared and will be getting the job done as soon as possible."