Little old lady not allowed to support England

Written by Kris Wednesday, 19 May 2010 17:09

England World Cup Blog

A little old lady was reduced to tears earlier this month by council officials who took down St George flags she had put on lampposts outside her home in Nottingham.

Doreen Carnelley, 74, a Nottingham Forest season ticket holder said she had draped flags on lampposts during previous World Cups and European Championships without any problems, so was surprised to find that the council had been round and dumped the set of 27 flags in a hedge in her garden.

Now a government minister has said councils should not be over-zealous in applying "petty rules" when it comes to flying the flag for England.

Nottingham City Council is standing by its decision to take the flags down.

A spokesman said it was illegal to attach anything to lampposts without prior permission and that "health and safety implications" were also an issue.

However, the authority later said, "We are sorry we have upset Mrs Carnelley.

"We should have knocked on her door and explained to her why the flags needed to be removed."

"I felt terrible. I was upset. It has hurt me so much. They said they had complaints and cut them down," Carnelly told the Nottingham Evening Post.

"We love football. Most of my neighbours are sad. They have been to my door."

Local Government Minister Grant Shapps commented, "Ahead of the World Cup, communities across England will want to wave the flag of St George with pride. Councils should show some common sense and not be over-zealous in applying petty rules. The World Cup is a great opportunity for local communities of all backgrounds to pull together."

Mrs Carnelley still has 16 England flags on the outside of her home and a number of smaller ones in plant pots. Good girl!

If you go around Europe, you'll see flags all over the place of the country you're in, and there's no shame in it at all. It's as it should be.

Get those St. George flags out today. Put them on your cars, out your windows, on your walls, on your lampposts, on your t-shirts, on your dogs, and anywhere else you can think of. Let's get patriotic.

The A2BWorldCup campaign starts here.

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