Bin police swoop on Boris Johnson's celebrity-filled neighbourhood

Bins belonging to celebrities, judges and London mayor Boris Johnson were searched by council-hired snoops.

In all, 53 streets in Islington, North London, were secretly targeted by 'bin spies' in an operation which has angered residents.

Last night, the Liberal Democratrun council added fuel to the fire by stating: 'No permission was sought from residents as none is required.'

It insisted it had not been snooping but simply 'investigating' the types of rubbish thrown away to see if more could be recycled.

Comedy actress Su Pollard lives in one of the streets involved.

Miss Pollard, who starred in Hide-Hi! and You Rang, M'Lord?, said: 'I am quite incensed. It smacks of Big Brother.

'One feels like a suspect in some way. 'There is nothing in my bins that would incriminate me in any way  -  it's mostly yoghurt pots  -  but I am terribly uneasy about it.

'It will make you think twice before leaving rubbish out.'

Birds of a Feather star Linda Robson, who lived in the area at the time of the searches, said: 'That is terrible. How dare they?

'I recycle but there may have been private things I was throwing away. It is really intrusive. Is nothing sacred?'

Outraged: Linda Robson at her home in Islington, right

Mr Johnson declined to comment.

Emily Thornberry, Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury, last night said serious security issues could be involved.

'High Court judges and High Court appeal judges live in those streets,' she said.

'I am sure they are careful but a sheet of paper can easily go amiss, and council officers could have seen them.

'My concerns are who authorised this and what they do with the stuff. They should have told people what they were going to do.'

The spying was uncovered after a Freedom of Information request to Islington asking whether it had undertaken any kind of survey of bins during the last five years.

The answer was that it had  -  between August 1 and 12 2005 and between November 8 and 19 2004.

In total, 1,000 households had their rubbish inspected secretly.

The council said: 'The operatives involved were waste professionals acting under a strict code of conduct which included the possibility of finding items of a personal nature such as confidential paperwork.'

Liberal Democrat councillor Greg Foxsmith said: 'This is not about snooping into households' bins or invading privacy. It was an investigation into rubbish to see what is being sent to landfill and how much more could be recycled.

'Rubbish is not looked at individually or records taken  -  confidentiality is taken very seriously.'

Snoopers: Islington council have been accused of spying on residents to see if they are correctly recycling