A resident forced to clean up after binmen who left rotten food strewn across the street says they told her: "We aren't allowed to carry a broom!"

The woman confronted the refuse collectors in Whitstable after she saw them spill the waste onto the ground as they clumsily tried to empty a container.

But rather than clear the rubbish, they reportedly offered the "ridiculous" excuse about having no tool to sweep the road, and drove off.

The crews, who work for the Canterbury City Council-run firm Canenco, have since been given a dressing down by bosses at the local authority.

Recalling the events of yesterday morning, the resident said: "I saw them throwing stuff from the bins into the van, but everything they threw just fell onto the floor.

"They couldn't fit anything else in the van, and so it was just there on the ground, left there on a hot summer's day for the seagulls to get. It's revolting. It happens every week.

"He said they aren't allowed to carry brooms - they don't have any in their vehicles.

"I couldn't believe it when he told me."

As the bin crews departed Wynn Road, the resident began to sweep up the mess herself.

She was joined by one of the refuse collectors after their vehicle was blocked from leaving the street by a skip.

"To be fair, he came over and helped," she said.

"Every week I have to clean up after them, and hose down the food bins as they have sticky, rotten mess over them."

The city council has apologised for the issues and says questions are being asked of the bin crews.

Spokesman Rob Davies said: "We are sorry to hear of this issue in Wynn Road. It goes without saying that no resident should have to clean up after our crews and it's not acceptable that this has happened.

"Brooms are provided to our crews. We will be speaking with the crew involved about this incident, why they were not able to sweep up themselves and why the resident received the reply she did."

Canenco, which was created to take over bin-collection duties from Serco last year, uses smaller vehicles to empty food waste.