No 'dishevelled' Union Flags removed from Peterborough lampposts - six weeks after council pledged to do so

A meeting of full council said it would remove unauthorised flags across the city that are ‘unsafe or dishevelled’ at a meeting on January 21.

However, six weeks later, the council have said no flags have been removed.

Former Royal Navy serviceman – and ex-Mayor of Peterborough – cllr John Fox made the call in January, requesting council officers be able to “locate and remove these unauthorised and dishevelled flags that exhibit disregard for their true meaning, as a mark of respect for all those who have served and continue to serve our country.”

He pointed out a number of flags that were put up in the city by residents last year were flying at half mast – showing a sign of distress – and were now flapping in the wind only attached to a post by a single cable tie. Others were looking tatty after being battered by the winter weather.

After The Peterborough Telegraph informed cllr Fox that no flags had been removed, he said: “I love to see the flags flying.

“But the way some of the flags that were put up last year have been left is very disrespectful, and not very patriotic.

“To see the Union Flag, sometimes upside down, flying at half mast from one cable tie, does not seem very respectful at all.

“I remember when the flag used to fly from the top of the Town Hall, rather than the three flag poles outside it now. Once, a woman complained that the flag was looking tatty – the council replaced it immediately.”

When the issue was raised in January,council leader Cllr Shabina Qayyum outlined the council’s current policy on unauthorised flags: “The council’s current position is that we will generally not be removing any of the flags unless they’re a clear health and safety risk to the public,” she said.

“That said, where flags are significantly damaged or worn, or where it’s thought they may fall, officers will endeavour to remove them as swiftly as possible.”