Council will not 'police' flags unless necessary

Deputy leader of the council, Alex Wagner, said the authority was concerned about the maintenance of the flags

Shropshire Council will not go out of its way to "police people" putting up national flags on lampposts and local authority property, unless there are safety issues, its deputy leader has said.

It comes as Union flags and St George's flags have sprung up on English streets, including on Mount Pleasant Road in Shrewsbury.

Groups elsewhere responsible for putting up the flags on lampposts have told the BBC they are motivated by pride and patriotism. But others have said it feels provocative at a time when tensions are running high across England over immigration.

"Shropshire Council has absolutely no problem with people being patriotic, with flying the colours," said councillor Alex Wagner.

However, he said the authority's concern was that the flags on lampposts in Shrewsbury could cause a maintenance issue.

"A lot of these are clearly made of plastic; I suspect they're not going to withstand much pressure from the elements... whether that's being dyed in the sun or wind and rain, the zip ties are going to stay for a long old time," he told the BBC.

"These might look alright this morning, but in three or six months, I suspect the same people aren't going to be going back around keeping an eye on maintaining them."

Flags have been put up on Mount Pleasant Road in Shrewsbury

"Ultimately, that falls on the public purse."

Graffiti that depicted St George's crosses also sprung up in the Monkmoor area, which Wagner said looked "appalling".

"It's just harmed the look of the area, which we're trying to invest some more money in tidying up in at the moment," he said.

"We would've had no problem at all talking to residents about public art, even with a patriotic theme, but just going around graffitiing stuff because you've seen something on the internet... ultimately it is going to fall on the taxpayer to fund clean-up at some point or another.

'These should be unifying'

"These [flags] should be unifying. It's our intention as a council and a town to make sure that they're still seen as unifying, and we're not seeking to inflame tensions at all by saying some of these can stay up," he told BBC Shropshire.

"We cannot possibly allow far-right groups to claim the national flag – it's our flag; it's my flag.

"I think the worst thing in the world to do would be to say that this is a greater affront."

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"If you live in Shrewsbury, if you live in Shropshire, these are the flags that fly over your town, and you're part of this town, whoever you are, so I refuse to let them be claimed by groups like that," he said.

"I know there might've been some of those motivations in putting them up, but ultimately they're our flags, and we can't possibly cede that territory.

"It would be wrong to all of our residents who are patriotic, who care about their town and country, to do so."

Diane Haynes said she was all for the flags

Local people living near Mount Pleasant Road told the BBC their thoughts about the flags.

"It's nice to be patriotic, but I think it may be a little bit much," said Paul Ryder.

"I don't know if they're a bit over the top, it just seems to be in your face, we're not America."

Diane Haynes said: "I think it's a personal preference, if they want to support their country I'm all for that."

One local said: "I don't mind them to be honest, they're patriotic, and I think some of it is probably to do with the influx of migrants to the country and people are showing their disdain for it."

Jenny Cowley said people should have been consulted about the flags

"I don't agree with them being up there, I think if you want to put a flag up, put it in your own property," said Jenny Cowley.

"Nobody voted to put these flags up, somebody went and just did it."

Jamie, who works in the area, said: "I don't know why they're here…. it's nice, I suppose, but I get the feeling they're not up for the reasons I hope they're up."