Rubbish is not being collected on time from narrow city streets because large modern dustcarts cannot negotiate between lines of parked cars.

Residents are demanding Sita, the firm which has the domestic waste collection contract for Brighton and Hove, uses smaller carts to ensure waste is collected on the scheduled days.

Roads such as St Paul's Street and St Mary Magdelene Street, off the busy Lewes Road, are often strewn with uncollected bags for several days until smaller vehicles can come to make collections.

There have also been problems in narrow roads off Western Road.

Residents said they were fed up making calls to the city council and Sita complaining about uncollected rubbish.

In warmer weather, rubbish smells if left out for over a day and they are worried about potential health hazards.

Baba Bartoli, of St Paul's Street, said: "After several calls the rubbish is collected within days but we should not have to do this."

Black sacks are left out on Fridays by the residents of St Paul's and St Mary Magdalene streets as the notice at the end of their roads says this is the day for rubbish collection.

Often they are left by the side of the road for the weekend where they are split open by animals.

Young mother Jo Wild said: "It sometimes smells in St Paul's Street because rubbish is not collected. I sometimes have to negotiate between the sacks with a young child immediately as I step outside my front door."

Pat Bravington, who has lived in St Paul's Street for 19 years, said: "Huge dustcarts cannot get through the lines of parked cars and the bags are left. People phone up and complain. The bags are eventually collected by a smaller cart.

"The answer is simply use smaller carts for roads such as these. We used to have smaller carts. I can't see why Sita can't provide them as their depot is only just up the road.

"We don't mind which day our rubbish is collected, so long as we know when to put out our bags in the knowledge they will be collected."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "Under the terms of their contract Sita should use the appropriate vehicles for each street.

"We have brought it to their attention and Sita are seeking to come up with a better solution. They have in the past hand-hauled bags out of these street, which is time consuming."