A Charles and Diana coffee mug must be removed from a town hall in Northern Ireland to create a “neutral working environment”, councillors have decided.

Sinn Fein councillors in Limavady, Co Londonderry, have drawn up a list of items that they want removed from inside and outside the building, including the Royal Wedding cup, a Royal Engineers paperweight, a plate decorated with the insignia of the 22nd (Cheshire) Regiment and a small toy dragon, a gift from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards.

The list of “offensive” items will be put to a full council vote next Tuesday. Nationalists, comprising Sinn Fein and the SDLP, have the majority on the council.

Alderman George Robinson, of the Democratic Unionist Party, a former mayor of Limavady, said: “This is nothing more than a full-frontal assault on the Unionist people, not only of Limavady but of Northern Ireland.”

The minutes of a special council committee - which includes SDLP members and on which Unionists refused to sit - revealed that councillors conducted an audit of the council buildings last November.

Suspicious of a statue of William Massey, a Limavady man who left in the late 1800s, eventually becoming Prime Minister of New Zealand, the councillors consulted the internet to establish if they were offended by its presence close to the town hall’s main door. After discovering that the Antipodean leader had been a member of the Orange Order, the councillors concluded that the statue must go.

“Picking out the statue of Massey beggars belief. It is a tribute to one of the town’s most famous and successful sons,” Mr Robinson said. “It has been there 10 or 12 years and is causing offence to no one. They are planning to rip down a monument, a tourist attraction and a tribute to a local man.

“According to Sinn Fein, he was first and foremost an Orangeman and he made anti-Catholic speeches.”

Other items on the extensive list include a Royal British Legion certificate and pictures presented to the council by the 8th Infantry Brigade. Ballykelly Army base is within the council’s area.

While Limavady town is mainly Unionist, the council area, including Dungiven, has a nationalist majority.

Anne Brolly, a Sinn Fein former Limavady mayor, said that the matter was being dealt with by the Equality Commission and the subcommittee had been set up to look at the issues.

Mrs Brolly said it was unfortunate that Unionists would not get involved in a process to make the council building more “user friendly and neutral”.

“Rather than reflect one section of the community, we want it to be more neutral, just as we wanted a no flags policy when I was mayor.

“We don’t want people to feel threatened. It is important in the new climate that we are living in that we have a neutral environment in a place like a public building.”

A spokeswoman for the Equality Commission said that it had provided advice to the council, which was seeking to adopt a “policy on neutral public space”.

“The Commission advised that the Fair Employment Code of Practice refers to promoting a “good and harmonious environment” and drew attention to fact that this concept is preferred to that of a “neutral” environment.

“The Commission has not provided advice regarding the removal of any specific items or emblems.”

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