Union officials were today holding urgent talks with management after dozens of agency cleansing staff were laid off without warning by Bradford Council.

About 40 temporary private workers have been axed from jobs which include cleaning the city centre and clearing fly tipping. The council said the agency staff were now surplus because fewer of its own workers were needed for wheelie bin rounds. Some had already replaced the agency staff.

But today Terry Patten, branch secretary of the union GMB, said: "Some of these agency staff are our members and they've been with the council for years.

"Many believed their jobs would become permanent. They have been sent home with no notice. One was in tears.

"Existing staff will have to do twice the work filling in. There is uproar."

City cleansing officer Alan Baff said practically all eligible households across the district now had wheelie bins, which needed smaller crews.

It had always been made clear that surplus bin staff would be transferred elsewhere in the cleansing division. "That means it is no longer necessary to bring in so many agency staff," he said.

But Councillor David Ford (Green, Shipley West) said he believed the district would suffer.

He added: "The city centre is the showpiece of the district and needs to attract investment. I can't see how you can take so many people all at once out of the workforce without having some effect.

"These people were told totally out of the blue that they were finished and I think that is wrong. I am very concerned about the cleansing service."

Deputy leader of the Labour group Councillor Barry Thorne said the shake- up should have been reported to the executive committee. "This is an extremely sensitive area and should not have been done in this way."

Executive member for the environment Councillor Anne Hawkesworth said the lay-offs had been a management decision, following the introduction of the wheelie bins. She had been told it would not harm the district's cleanliness and would be more cost effective.

An agency worker, who was laid off after three years with no notice, said: "I even had to buy my own uniform. We thought after the years we have worked here we could have been given some warning. People with families are in a terrible state."

The Prime Time employment agency, where many of the workers are believed to be registered, would not comment on the contract.