Local Reform party members protested to council officials after England flags were taken down in a North Yorkshire town.
Members of the Thirsk and Malton branch of the party spotted North Yorkshire Council workers removing a flag from a lamppost in Thirsk on Friday.
Branch chair Mark Robinson said he and branch member Shaun Remmer, who had helped put up the flags, noticed council staff using a cherry picker to take a flag down.
He added: “We both stopped to see what was going on and found that the council had decided to come out and take the flags down.
“Shaun wasn’t very happy about it and he had words with them — to be fair the blokes didn’t want to do it either.
“They were a bit sheepish about the whole thing and they decided to go back to their depot.
“We followed them back to the council depot and formed a very small picket line of three!”
Mr Robinson said the highways depot manager spoke to them and said only flags causing a safety hazard would be taken down in future.
Mr Remmer estimates he has spent up to £600 on flags and has put up more than 100 in the Thirsk area in recent weeks.
“There was six people in total. They said they were only going to take that one flag down — but they were on a mission, they were going to take them all down.”
Last month, two council officers hand-delivered a letter to Mr Remmer’s home in Hambleton Avenue, Thirsk, asking him not to put flags up on council property.
He added: “I didn’t hid behind a mask hence they obviously found out. I wasn’t expecting it to be honest.”
North Yorkshire Council’s corporate director of environment, Karl Battersby said the authority was proud to support “big national and regional occasions by flying a St George’s Cross or Union Flag”.
But he added: “We are aware of some residents across North Yorkshire feeling uncomfortable with the numbers of flags as well as graffiti. This does not reflect the inclusive and celebratory tone in which displaying the flags should be intended.
“We have also seen numerous examples of people putting themselves at risk to display flags on highways, bridges and lampposts.
“We respect individuals’ rights to fly and paint flags on their own private property, but any unauthorised flags or markings on roundabouts and street furniture will be removed when resources allow, focusing on those which are a safety issue.”
“If any of our staff face intimidating or abusive behaviour while removing flags or graffiti from around the county, then we will pursue the appropriate action to deal with the individuals involved.”
The flag movement has gathered pace on social media over the past few months, under the name Operation Raise the Colours.
Those behind it said they were motivated by pride and patriotism but others have expressed discomfort due to tensions running high across England over immigration and the St George cross often being used to promote far-right groups.
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