The mayor of Plettenberg, near Dusseldorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, banned the spiky plants from municipal buildings after a man required medical attention from injuring himself on a cactus in a school building.

"What was an injury to the adult man's arm could easily have been a serious injury to the face for a small child in the same place," the council said, according to local media.

The council reportedly said the nature of the injury could not be disclosed "due to the need to protect the personal rights and privacy of our staff".

In a letter to local state workers, Plettenberg mayor Ulrich Schulte wrote: "Due to the current situation, all official and private cacti (Cactaceae) must be removed from municipal buildings immediately."

The mayor said the ban was being undertaken because such plants could "cause ugly injuries".

He said cacti would be banned not only in schools and nurseries but from all municipal spaces.

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"Even if this order seems adventurous, excessive, superfluous or ridiculous to some employees, it has a serious background in terms of protecting the health of all employees and especially children in schools and daycare centres," the mayor added.

A spokesperson for the council told local media the town had since "successfully implemented the cactus ban".