A shortage of litter bins left Peel Park scarred by a mountain of rubbish by the weekend's Mela.

As a massive clean-up operation began early yesterday, one householder described the aftermath scene as a "war zone" while others complained a lack of bins had turned their park into a "filthy sea of rubbish".

Organisers today admitted there had been an "unforeseeable" delivery problem with bins that failed to arrive at the Bradford park until the Sunday - although there were some skips already on site.

Co-festival director Robin Morley said although festival organisers were sensitive to residents' complaints, the size and scale of the Mela - which attracted an estimated 130,000 people over the two days - would inevitably create problems for some.

He pledged the park would be clear of rubbish by tomorrow.

"We are working in partnership with Bradford council, who are taking away the rubbish, and I have teams of people in physically removing the litter," he said.

Viola Thompson, 66, of Bolton Road said she was disgusted at the mess Mela-goers had left. She said: "It's filthy. There's no consideration for people who normally use the park. I wish they'd take the Mela and their mess somewhere else."

Neighbour Anita Dean, 61, says people who live next to the park usually book holidays to make sure they avoid Mela time.

She said: "The litter is especially bad again this year, the rotting food stinks and there doesn't seem to have been any extra bins."

Iain Gordon, 41, licensee of The Bolton pub said it was the build-up of traffic that caused most problems for him. Despite the heat, he had to keep his windows closed because of the stench of burning clutches and smoke fumes as frustrated drivers tried to find places to park.

He said: "The hot weather made the fumes even worse. It would make more sense if they set up a park and ride system to ferry people to and from the Mela."

But Doreen Grant, 65, of Ashbourne Estate said she thought traffic had not been so bad. She said: "We don't want to be killjoys, we just wish people coming to the Mela would be a bit more thoughtful about where they try to park - I've been offered £20 for my parking permit before and when I refused they tipped my bins out.

"We're very fortunate to have this lovely park to ourselves 363 days of the year and we shouldn't mind sharing it with other people over a weekend to celebrate us being a multi-cultural city."

Mr Morley said information telling people there was ample parking in the park itself had got through this year which had been a help and he said there had also been a hotline for people to ring if they spotted illegal parking.

Councillor Simon Cooke, deputy leader of Bradford Council, said: "We are delighted that the Mela was such a great success and went off without any problems. A lot of progress has been made in making Bradford a safer place, but we cannot be complacent and we must continue to work to make it as safe and crime free as possible."