BELFAST city council last night said it was "reviewing" its service provision in an area of north Belfast after two staff members were assaulted and robbed in broad daylight.
The two male council workers, aged 48 and 55, were cleaning an entry at Brompton Park in the Ardoyne area when they were attacked by two men.
The incident took place yesterday at around 11am.
SDLP councillor Paul McCusker said the two council workers were initially set upon by one of the men while the other man filmed it before he then also became involved in the assault.
As a result of the attack, the council workers were left with facial injuries. A mobile phone was also stolen from one of the victims.
Belfast City council described the attack as "unacceptable".
"We are aware that two members of our staff were injured this morning whilst carrying out their duties at Brompton Park," said a council spokeswoman.
"This is unacceptable. We place the health and safety of our employees at the centre of everything we do. A full investigation is being undertaken by the PSNI.
"We are currently reviewing whether there will be any negative impact on service delivery and mitigating this where possible."
Mr McCusker described what happened as a "disgusting attack on these council workers who provide a vital service to the community to ensure the entries are clean".
"The community don't support this," he said.
"It is very disturbing that these two males felt the need to go and attack council workers. What was the motive behind this attack and why did they feel they had to do it?
"People are very angry. As local reps and the community, we stand with these workers and will not let anyone stand in their way."
A PSNI spokesman appealed for information.
"Both men have facial injuries but didn’t need hospital treatment," he said.
"The men were approached by two males in an alleyway, one male was described as being in his twenties, slim build wearing a green tracksuit. The second male is described as being in his thirties with short brown hair and of heavy build."
