Taxi flag ban could be overturned - councillor

John "Basil" Brockhurst was told to remove flags from his cab when he renewed his licence

A senior councillor has said it is likely that a ban on minicabs displaying national flags will be dropped.

The deputy leader of Shropshire Council, Ian Nellins, is proposing changes after one of his constituents was told to remove the union jack and flag of St George from his car.

John "Basil" Brockhurst, from Market Drayton, was told he was breaking new rules when he renewed his licence for the year.

Mr Nellins said the rules were part of a 200-page policy consulted on and approved by an all-party licensing committee last year.

He now hopes changes to the policy will go to the council's cabinet before the end of the year.

Mr Brockhurst, an army veteran who runs Basil's Taxi, said the flags made his car stand out.

"If I'm at an airport or station, or you're on a night out in Shrewsbury, I can say 'it's a blue car with a cross of St George on the back'," he said.

He told BBC Radio Shropshire the issue arose when he attended his yearly inspection for licence renewal.

"They gave me a piece of paper with 'appendix L, sub-paragraph O' about the flags and symbols, and that's where it stemmed from," he explained.

Mr Nellins said that the policy was not given enough scrutiny before being approved.

"I think... they didn't look at the fine detail of what this included and it didn't raise its head," he said.

'Very patriotic'

Mr Brockhurst publicised his concerns and won support from North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan for a change.

Mr Nellins said he also backed the driver, and had gone straight to the council leader and directors to propose a change "instead of jumping up and down on social media".

He said he expected the change to go before the council's cabinet in December.

"The people of Market Drayton are very patriotic, and they would like to see the ability to fly a national flag. It shouldn't be offensive to anybody," Mr Nellins added.