They are calling it the Battle of Birks Road. An indignant group of neighbours stood like David against the Goliath of local authority instransigence: council refusemen and their waste lorry.

A dispute over the binmen’s refusal to collect a backlog of rubbish developed into a tense, one-hour stand-off in the quiet cul-de-sac.

Children and parents formed a human chain to prevent the lorry leaving. One resident parked his car across the road to block its departure.

Tempers boiled. Police were called and eventually order was restored when the binmen backed down. The lorry duly collected all the rubbish bags and was waved on its way.

Residents of Birks Road, in Huddersfield, had become frustrated by Kirklees Council’s failure to remove extra bags of rubbish which had built up after refuse collectors staged a two-day strike last month.

After the stoppage, collections resumed but although the householders’ bins were emptied as normal, the accumulated extra bags were left to rot at the side of the road.

Residents say they contacted the council and were promised that a “rapid response” vehicle would be sent to collect the bags. Two weeks later, they were still lying on the road.

Patience finally snapped on Wednesday when the binmen arrived, several hours late, and again refused to clear away the excess rubbish.

Neighbours offered to load the bags into the lorry themselves, but were told that was against the regulations.

Mark Copley, an electrician, finally snapped and made the first move by climbing into his car and trapping the dustcart inside the cul-de-sac. Mr Copley, 30, said he told the three refuse men: “I’m not having this. Move my rubbish and I’ll move my car.”

His neighbour, Rebecca Jones, 32, said that as the blockade continued the council agreed to send a second vehicle to pick up the excess rubbish.

When it arrived, “a guy in a shirt and tie appeared and said that to teach us a lesson they were not going to empty the bins in the street”. It was then that a human chain, including children, was formed around the lorry.

“Finally, one of the men said they would clear the rubbish if we moved, so we did and they kept to their word.

“We pay £144 a month in council tax. For them to strike when they feel like it and then not to collect our rubbish was just not on.”

A council spokesman said: “The collection crews always do their best to collect everyone’s waste,” he said. “This minor incident was quickly resolved, in line with what we would expect of our collection crews.”

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