Householders who have not had their bins collected for four weeks have compared it to living in Victorian England.

Residents in Brighton and Hove continued to complain about the backlog caused by Cityclean workers on unofficial strike action.

The local authority apologised for disruption affecting “many areas of the city”

and said extra crews and agency staff were completing rounds.

However, bosses admitted they did not know when the service would be back to normal.

It comes as the GMB yesterday opened the ballot for an official strike which, if supported by workers, could take place next month.

Among the areas without collections are streets in Goldstone Valley, Queens Park, Withdean and North Portslade.

Despite crews being paid to work, issues are being created as workers are not collecting waste outside bins, missing some roads and deeming vehicles as “unfit” to take out of the depot.

Tony Parsons, of Hamilton Close, Portslade, said: “It’s disgusting. I’ve already been to the tip three times.

“We pay our taxes. It’s not our fault the bins are not being collected.

“If the bin men want people to support them then they should do their jobs, not leave waste by the side of the road.”

One elderly resident in Goldstone Crescent, who did not want to be named, said: “The council want us to take the rubbish to the tip ourselves. But we are all elderly in the street. How can we manage it?”

Alison Bennett, of Gladstone Place, Brighton, which has communal bin collections, said: “It’s like Victorian England.

It’s disgusting. There are nappies and food waste sat rotting in the street.”

The issue has been created as the local authority looks to revamp its system of allowances.

Thousands of staff will be better off due to the planned changes but 260 staff at Cityclean are among those that will lose out.

Unions claim they could be up to £4,000 a year out of pocket, but the local authority said it was closer to £1,000.

Unofficial action took place on May 8 and 9. Since returning to work, the backlog has remained.

Union representatives are confident a vote of more than 90 per cent in favour of a strike will be returned.

A council spokesman said it knew there were issues and, despite its managers’ efforts, many areas of the city are still behind on collections.

He said: “This is a very difficult time and we are speaking to our employees and the unions on a daily basis to try to calm the situation and get the service working as it should.”