He said: “We then have to suffer the managing director badgering staff to remove their cuddly mascot toys from their lorries. 

“It beggars belief. You’d have thought the bosses would have had a lot more to worry about, like keeping our dirty streets clean. The lads are very angry.”

Councillor Martin Newton, the local Lib Dem environment spokesman, said: “I understand the safety worries of obstructing views from large vehicles. But it seems that Haringey Enterprise should have bigger worries ensuring the people of Haringey get the rubbish and recycling collection service they deserve.

“That’s far more important than a few cuddly toys.” Haringey Trades Council president Keith Flett said the situation bore all the hallmarks of a power struggle. 

He said: “The amount of rubbish is exponentially increasing and that is obviously a safety issue.”

A Haringey Enterprise spokesman said: “This instruction has been issued to ensure that Enterprise operational vehicles represent the company in a professional and business-like manner and to avoid the health and safety hazards that might arise from items obstructing the view of drivers and the possibility that children may approach vehicles to observe or touch cuddly toys, thereby placing them in danger.”

The memo comes just two weeks after Haringey borough was shamed when a survey claimed it had the dirtiest streets of 351 local authorities studied.

The survey, which was compiled by the GMB union using Audit Commission data, claimed that 40 per cent of pavements fell below acceptable standards for litter levels in 2006/07.

But the council claimed that the proportion of dirty streets had decreased from 40 per cent to 20 per cent in a year.

It said it had invested in street cleaning, provided a litter-picking service and stepped up enforcement on fast-food outlets.