Southwell residents have been left outraged after Union flags were taken down before Armistice Day.
Town councillor Jeremy Berridge claimed the removal of the flags – on Monday, November 10 – was to get the town’s Christmas trees up on time.
But residents say festive decorations were not installed until Thursday, November 13.
One angry resident had a huge response on social media when he shared his disgust at the decision.
Andy Harper, a retired firefighter and paramedic and former Southwell Town Council (STC) groundsman, posted about the incident on local Facebook page, Southwell community chat.
The 61-year-old said: “I think it’s disgraceful and disrespectful.
“Never, ever before have the flags been taken down before the 11th [Armistice Day].”
Many of the responses to Andy’s post are residents asking why the decision was made.
They are now also calling for an apology.
Andy said: “All anybody wanted was an answer and an apology, but there’s been nothing.
“The fact is, you’ve taken the flags down before Armistice Day.
“Nobody does that.”
Following the outrage at the early removal of the decorations, Andy and his wife Sheila checked around nearby villages to see if anywhere else had done the same thing.
Mr Harper said: “We’ve checked all over the place.
“The villages in Nottinghamshire, nobody else has done that.”
In a Facebook comment Coun Berridge wrote: “The flags were removed to clear the way so King Street could be dressed for Christmas as contractors had given staff a very tight timetable.”
STC published a statement on Facebook on November 11 in response to the anger.
It said: “The decision was based solely on health and safety considerations for staff who are required to work at height on a busy main road.”
But other Southwellians doubted the council’s claims.
Resident Lisa Craven, 50, said: “When I drove past three people taking down the Armistice Day flags last Monday, my first thought was how dangerous it looked.
“There were three people with a ladder on the edge of the kerb in the narrowest part of Queens Street, no cones, no barriers and traffic passing freely.”
After later seeing the council’s statement, Lisa said: “I had seen with my own eyes that no safety precautions had been taken.”
When CBJ Star put residents’ claims to STC they released a further statement confirming the flags were removed to make way for the Christmas trees.
An STC spokesperson said: “With adverse weather conditions forecast in the days prior to the scheduled installation of the Christmas trees, Monday was identified as the only safe and practical window to complete the flag removal.
“The safety of our staff and the public remains our priority, and all work was fully planned, supervised, and undertaken in line with recognised health and safety best practice.”
