A restaurant-owner and residents are at loggerheads over rubbish.

The residents, in Eastgate Street, Winchester, claim it is piled outside the Charles House restaurant, that it smells and attracts wasps.

But proprietor, Anita Hui (46), claims she and her staff work hard to control the rubbish and says the trouble has been going on for months. "I think it is personal animosity against me. I believe it is racist. I am considering going to the Citizens' Advice Bureau."

Neighbourss strenuously deny any racist intent. One, Roger Bedford said "They pile bins high and rubbish spills onto the road. It attracts wasps and it stinks. We don't want to be critical of people from another ethnic background."

Another, Simon Latham, said his baby daughter had to have hospital treatment because she was stung by a wasp. "I caught one of their staff urinating against a fence. We went to the restaurant and they would not acknowledge me. They congregate outside and smoke cigarettes. They pour oil straight down the drain."

Mrs Hui said: "I think these are attacks against me. We have had people threatening to close us down. And a brick was thrown at the window.

"All waste is wrapped in bin-liners. We have collections every day, Monday to Friday. We have not poured oil down drains. We washed the area with detergent and some may have gone down. One man did urinate at the back and we sacked him the same night."

A city council spokesman said: "We have been talking about how best to deal with refuse storage and collection. As for smells, that is monitored by our environmental health department. There is no problem with pest control. There are a lot of wasps around and we all have to be careful."