BIN men left out of a job by forthcoming changes to collection arrangements feel 'betrayed' by cost-cutting council chiefs.

Darlington Borough Council is moving to fortnightly rubbish collections next month, with recycling to be collected in alternate weeks.

The changes – which the council says will save £400,000 – come amid efforts to cut almost £14m from the town hall budget.

They have resulted in eight members of staff being made redundant – seven voluntarily and one compulsorily.

Unison, the public sector union which represents some of the bin men who have lost their jobs, says the cuts are even harder to stomach as they come against a backdrop of rising senior management costs.

Dawn Taylor, assistant secretary for the Darlington branch of Unison, said: "The council has rolled out alternative weekly collections in a bid to achieve savings by cutting bin men's jobs and wages.

"They feel as if they have been betrayed by their employer.

"All this at a time when the council has given senior staff pay rises."

The total remuneration paid to senior managers has dropped from more than £2.3m in 2010/11 and there was a further reduction in that figure between 2011/12 and 2012/13.

Senior council managers received total remuneration of £1.49m in 2012/13 and £1.63m the previous year.

However, statistics on the council's website show that certain senior posts attracted salary increases from 2011/12 to 2012/13.

While the total remuneration of the council's five highest-paid staff – including chief executive Ada Burns – either stayed at the same level or decreased slightly from 2011/12 to 2012/13, figures show the annual salaries for several assistant director posts attracted a basic salary increase.

The council said its senior management costs have been reduced considerably over recent years and repeated restructures has led to fewer senior jobs.

Ms Taylor added: "Unison is determined to continue the fight for what we believe is the correct pay rate for the job, but so far we have been met with resistance from management.

"This town deserves high-quality public services and our members deserve a decent rate of pay."

A council spokeswoman said the authority was faced with 'difficult decisions' on spending cuts.

She added: "The council is continually restructuring its workforce to meet the financial pressures it is facing.

"The restructure within environmental services was fully consulted on with trade unions and staff."

She said ongoing support is available to staff affected by the recent redundancies.