Wires on two of the lorries at the council’s Hollingdean depot were purposely cut to ensure the vehicles couldn’t operate, the council said.
In a statement on the council website, leader Bella Sankey said that the local authority would not be ‘held to ransom’.
‘We know the vast majority of Cityclean staff are extremely hard working and want to do an excellent job for our residents and the city,’ she said.
‘However, the sabotage and resulting disruption of recent weeks shows there are a small minority who are disrupting our waste and recycling service. Under my leadership, we will not be held to ransom by these people.
‘The cutting of lorry wires is unlawful and scandalous and is extremely dangerous to our staff. It's also criminal activity which has been reported and is being investigated by Sussex Police.’
The council said sabotage and vehicle defects have increased dramatically following dismissal action that was taken after a report into complaints about behaviour within the council’s waste service, Cityclean.
A post on the GMB Sussex branch 'X' account also stated: ‘Chaos set to hit the city of Brighton. The sleeping giant has awoken watch this Twitter feed for further information.’
This post was subsequently deleted and GMB made a statement disowning the tweet and saying it would investigate it.
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