Householders and business leaders have told a waste manager they are disappointed many everyday items cannot be recycled under a new scheme.

Tim Moore, manager at Cityclean, Brighton and Hove City Council"s waste disposal service, spoke to North Laine residents at their community association meeting.

Many were disappointed that items such as jar lids, milk cartons and yoghurt pots could not be recycled.

Paper, glass, cans, cardboard, batteries, plastic bags and bottles can be taken.

Mr Moore said: "We are starting with a bread-and-butter service and want to get that right before we try anything else. We don"t have the facilities to recycle packaging made of more than one material bonded together, which these things are."

Mr Moore said the new kerbside recycling collection, which will ultimately be rolled out to the whole city, was part of a drive to meet a recycling target of 30 per cent.

The council urgently needs to reduce waste going into landfill, which is running out of space.

The Government is soon to introduce heavy fines for local authorities that put too much rubbish into landfill.

Mr Moore said it was helpful if people rinsed items before putting them in the recycling box, squashed cans and took the labels off tins. This would increase the speed and efficiency of Cityclean workers as they did their rounds.

To find out about kerbside recycling in your street, call the helpline on 01273 274674.