Shropshire Council is reporting a surge in abuse, harassment and intimidation directed at staff and elected councillors linked to the removal of unauthorised flags from street furniture.
Workers carrying out routine street lighting repairs are now also being targeted. Staff and councillors say they are being threatened simply for explaining council policy.
The council has stressed it fully supports the display of the Union Flag and does not consider patriotic expression a hate crime.
However, it says attaching flags to lampposts and highway infrastructure without permission raises safety concerns and creates additional costs for local taxpayers.
Attaching items to lampposts, signs, or roundabouts without express consent is illegal under the Highways Act 1980 and national planning regulations.
In March, Oxfordshire County Council issued a formal legal notice to the group ‘Raise the Colours’ following the unauthorised installation of flags on highway infrastructure across the county.
The county council leader Liz Leffman described the illegal proliferation of flags as ‘an act of intimidation and division’.
