Man reattaches flags moments after removal

He scaled his ladder as council contractors used a cherry picker

Footage has emerged of a person reattaching flags to lampposts along one of Exeter’s busiest roads just moments after they were removed.

Drivers can be heard tooting on Bridge Road as the man walks near to cones along the road that had been put in place to allow highways workers to remove the flags.

He then puts his ladder against the lamppost, but has to reposition it as the top of the ladder initially pulls away from the lamppost.

He then scales the ladder, and affixes a Union Jack as another driver passes beeping in apparent support. The flag waves strongly, suggesting the wind is quite high.

The person filming then pans across the road to where highway workers – who have high vis clothing on and a cherry picker so as to safely remove the flags – are standing watching.

Posts on Facebook highlight the “very proud patriot” putting the flags straight back up.

There is now, among supporters of this individual and the flags, a move to question how much Devon County Council spent on removing them, while one councillor has said he supports the move to put flags up and would even get arrested putting them up himself.

A link to the county council’s Freedom of Information request page is being circulated on Facebook with a push for people to fill it in to ask the council for information about the flag removal, something Councillor Ed Hill (Independent, Pinhoe & Mincinglake) is also pursuing.

“Personally I’m very proud of the lads putting them back up,” said Cllr Hill, who said he had observed the flags on Bridge Road being removed by Devon Highways.

Cllr Hill added he would “put some up myself” in his ward of Pinhoe if they were taken down, stating: “I’ll happily get arrested for putting a flag up.”

Assessing the effort taken to remove the flags, Cllr Hill said a lane was closed, cherry picker hired, and six workers employed.

“I have several questions regarding this, including asking for the total cost of the operation, and the official justification for removing the flags,” he said.

“Given that road markings in my ward have been awaiting repainting for over two years, and several potholes remain unfilled, why was this operation prioritised over these essential maintenance tasks?”

He has also asked the council whether, given winter is here, it would be “more appropriate for these workers to focus on unblocking and maintaining drains, such as the one on Alphington Road opposite Sainsbury’s”.

“Removing flags from lampposts has somehow become a priority for this council,” he said.

“Instead of seeing them as symbols of pride and patriotism, they choose to frame them as hate and division.”

Devon County Council had warned the flags could be removed saying they did not have permission to be there and it was unsafe for members of the public to start clambering up ladders on the roadside.

The issue has been raised at council meetings, with some members expressing a wish for them to be taken down.

Bridge Road isn’t the only area of Devon to see the nation’s colours being flown. A string of incidents involving the unauthorised display of St George flags sparked concern in Ilfracombe earlier this year.

Lampposts and roundabouts have become an unlikely symbols of the political divide in the country. While groups like Operation Raise the Colours say the flags are a show of pride, critics argue they are provocative at a time of cultural tension.

Some people in Tiverton took it upon themselves to add a rainbow flag and a peace symbol to the red and white St George cross.

The footbridge over Bridge Road has been given an international flavour. Somebody has attached a strip of bunting displaying the flags of the world.

Devon County Council said the flags were removed by a cherry picker from streetlights that are “either six- or eight metres in height”.

“The flags, a mix of Union Flags and those displaying the St George Cross, started to be removed at Sunday teatime to minimise disruption to road users. They had been placed there gradually, without permission, since August.

“The removal follows a warning by Devon County Council last month about the dangers of hanging flags from streetlights.

“Over the past few months CCTV has a captured a number of individuals using ladders to scale lamp columns over a number of busy roads to affix flags – in one film you could see the lamp column visibly ‘flex’ as the individual climbed the ladder.”

Video: Footage of a man reattaching flags to lampposts in Exeter moments after they had been removed (Image courtesy: Anonymous/LDRS)