Council issues warning to residents over St. George's flags
A number have appeared on lampposts in Halton in recent days
Council chiefs have issued a plea for people to ‘work together’ to safely fly England flags in the borough, warning that those which impacted driver safety would have to be removed.
St George’s and Union flags have been appearing across the country in recent weeks, ranging from physical flags being flown from lampposts, to spray-painted murals on roundabouts.
Some flags have also appeared in Halton, but town hall bosses said any that were tired to lampposts or other public furniture would have to be taken down if they presented a potential danger to drivers.
Council leader Mike Wharton said: “Halton proudly flies the Union flag at council buildings such as the Municipal Building in Widnes and the Town Hall in Runcorn every day. In recent days, flags have been appearing on lampposts in Halton.
“For reasons of safety, anything attached to a lamppost needs to have the permission of the highways authority.
“The highways authority has a legal duty to ensure that any item attached to public lampposts have been installed correctly – we’re sure nobody wants a flag coming loose from a lamppost on a highway and ending up on a moving vehicle’s windscreen and potentially putting the driver, passengers and pedestrians at risk by causing an accident.”
He added: “Halton Borough Council will have to carry out its legal Highways duties and remove any flags that are a potential hazard to highway users. “However, we want to work with our residents that wish to fly our national flags and for it to be done safely, both for the people putting up flags and for highway users.”
He said people were allowed by law to put flags on their own property and vehicles, but not on property owned by others, this includes both publicly owned street furniture and private property.
The issue has proven to be a headache for some local authorities. Plymouth City Council has begun removing flags it has deemed unsafe or unlawful, while Torbay Council and Cornwall Council warned that taxpayers would bear the cost of removing red crosses daubed on roads and street furniture.
But councils in Derbyshire – including Reform UK led Derbyshire County Council – said they had ‘no plans’ to remove them.
Cllr Wharton added: “We’d ask that the people putting up the flags on the highways lampposts to contact us so that we can work together on this.”