Fly flags but don’t paint the road

A call is being made for people to stay safe when putting up flags and to stop painting the roads.

Leicestershire County Council is making the plea after hundreds of Union flags and St George Crosses have appeared over the last few weeks.

While it's actually an offence to attach anything to a street light without permission, highways teams will only step in if flags attached to lamp posts, or other street furniture, pose a serious safety risk, but people are being asked not to paint or graffiti mini-roundabouts and crossings, which is illegal.

Since Friday (29 August), highways teams have had to remove at least three separate sets of offensive graffiti, adding to taxpayers' bills.

"It's great to see people being patriotic. Whilst the flags are a welcome sight, the flying must be done safely.

"I know people want to show national pride but painting roads is different - it's dangerous and against the law. We can't condone vandalism, nor stand by when extremely offensive comments are being spraypainted onto public property. Our communities quite rightly expect us to take action and we will do.

"I'm proud of our communities, our heritage and our country and I'm keen to explore how we can celebrate this across Leicestershire."

Police and Crime Commissioner, Rupert Matthews, is backing the call, and said: "Our national flags are symbols of unity and pride that we can all rally behind.

"However, I would urge everyone to obey the law relating to flags when raising the colours."