A massive fan of the Royal Family is fuming after he was ordered to take down two Union Jack flags he had flown to celebrate the Queen.
John Broadhead put up the two flags to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee but was told to pull them down b y the council shortly after her death.
John, 72, has vowed to keep the flags in place, calling the council’s demands to get rid of them ‘downright disrespectful’ during the national period of mourning.
The pensioner put up the union jack flags in May to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, they were flying for months without any problem but on September 16, eight days after the Queen’s death, John says he received a letter from the council saying they had to go.
The local authority said the flags were “obstructing the highway” and had to go.
Retired video shop manager John said he was absolutely fuming after getting the letter, he asked why it was an issue now after the flags had flown for 14 weeks without issue.
"I couldn't believe it when I got that letter. This week of all weeks.”
"It's unbelievable really, downright disrespectful. They are real jobsworths,” he told the Sun.
The retired rental video shop manager from Farnham, Surrey, insisted that locals liked his flags and he had received no complaints before the council letter.
The quiet valley where he lived wasn’t being disrupted, John said, adding that his neighbours had more issues with his loud Harley Davidson motorcycle than they did with the flags.
Local resident Pat Ward described the flags as a ‘lovely tribute’ the the monarch, and slammed the council’s decision to demand their removal as ridiculous and unfair.
But John, who describes himself as a “real royalist” isn’t planning to go quietly and he says he will defy Surrey County Council's order to remove the flags.
Despite being told to have them removed as soon as possible, John said: "I love all this stuff and the flags won't be going anywhere. I think I will leave them up. I went to lay flowers after Diana and the Queen Mother died, it's what I do, so this was a real kick in the teeth.”
A Surrey County Council spokesperson: "We have a duty to protect the safety of the highways.
"Any complaint will be reviewed through the appropriate process."
