Dozens of lockboxes, used to distribute keys for Airbnb-style lettings, have been removed from poles across Dublin city and “shredded” in the first stage of a Dublin City Council enforcement blitz.

The council last February announced it intended to remove the key storage boxes from cycle stands and street signage poles due to the health and safety risks posed, particularly the danger of trips and falls.

Lockboxes have become very popular for holiday apartment letting across Europe, the council said, “as landlords do not have to meet the guests in person”. Instead, the host provides guests with a code to open the box and retrieve the keys, a process termed “self check-in”.

While the boxes are sometimes mounted on walls beside the entrance to an apartment or house, “it is becoming increasingly common in Dublin city centre that lockboxes or key boxes are being placed in the public domain attached to bike stands and street signage poles”, the council said.

“There is no authorisation for their use in the public realm and so this gives rise to issues regarding liability for any accidents, trips or other injuries in the public realm.”

In March the council said it would implement a six-week stay on the removal programme to allow property owners to remove the key boxes themselves, and to “prevent visitors being stranded with no accommodation on arrival”.

In recent weeks it has started cutting lockboxes and any associated chains from posts and cycle stands at several city centre locations including Smithfield Terrace, Smithfield Square and Lincoln Lane in Smithfield; Essex Street, Cope Street and Bedford Row in Temple Bar; Ship Street and Whitefriar Street near Christ Church; and Coolevin Road in Portobello.

“All lockboxes that are removed are shredded,” the council said. More than 40 boxes have so far been removed, it said.

Smithfield Square, one of the lockbox hot spots, was free of the contraptions on Friday morning in the lead-in to the bank holiday weekend, though some remained on smaller streets in the surrounding area.

[ Dublin city councillors agree to ban Airbnb-style lockboxes from next monthOpens in new window ]

“Removals will continue to occur when observed or when we are notified by members of the public of a location,” the council said. “If anyone wants to report a location they can do so by emailing citycentreprojects@dublincity.ie.”

Airbnb said it was not in a position to say if guests had been left stranded due to the removals blitz, but it said “self check-in” was a “global feature on Airbnb which is used all around the world” and allowed “guests to safely access their listing whatever their time of arrival”.

It said it was “committed to maintaining the safety and security of our community while adhering to local regulations” and where a concern a listing “was in breach of local rules is brought to our attention by relevant authorities, we investigate and take action as appropriate, including deactivation”.