Birmingham City Council's chief executive has refuted claims an emergency clean up of dumped garden waste was an 'election bribe'.

Mark Rogers has written to opposition Tory and Lib Dem councillors who challenged the decision to send clean-up crews out last weekend, days before yesterday's local election.

The scrapping of free garden waste collection by the ruling Labour administration , and subsequent fly-tipping of bags on the street, has been the leading issue of a bitter local election campaign.

The cost of the extra clean ups last weekend was £24,000 but election rules prevent spending public money on new policies and initiatives during the campaign.

Mr Rogers said the decision was 'operational' and taken by the strategic director in charge of refuse collection Sharon Lea, not the Labour cabinet member James McKay although he had been consulted.

He stressed the council's chief legal officer David Tatlow had also agreed.

Mr Rogers said: "Following this consultation, the strategic director took the operational decision to authorise the clear-up under delegated authority."

Among councillors to complain over the clean up are Tory shadow cabinet spokeswoman Coun Deirdre Alden and Lib Dem leader Paul Tilsley.

Coun Alden said: "Frankly, this whole policy has been ill thought out and completely mis-managed.

"Last weekend's clean up hasn't solved anything, long term it has just added to the problem.

"And the timing of it - the weekend immediately before the elections - in my opinion stinks more than the rubbish which was collected."

Conservative councillor James Hutchings (Edgbaston) also asked West Midlands Police to investigate the suspicion that public funds were being used for party political purposes.

But police have decided it is not a criminal matter and passed the complaint to the national elections watchdog The Electoral Commission.

Mr Rogers also stated that those who have paid the £35 a year charge and requested a refund after seeing dumped bags picked up for nothing would not get one.

He said an occasional clean up did not equate to the regular fortnightly collection they had paid for.