Scarborough Businessman Ordered to Pay £3,000 for Unauthorised Flag Display
A North Yorkshire businessman who utilised his company's cherry picker to attach Union Jack flags to lampposts has been instructed by the local council to pay a bill approaching £3,000. Will Haylett, aged 43, asserts his actions were solely intended to 'lift people's spirits' by installing patriotic bunting throughout Scarborough.
Council Issues Substantial Invoice for Flag Removal
To his astonishment, North Yorkshire Council (NYC) dispatched an invoice demanding £2,785.50 after the authority dismantled 64 flags attributed to him. A Freedom of Information request has disclosed that removing Union and St George's flags across the county has cost the local authority almost £7,000 since July 2025.
Mr Haylett's cleaning and maintenance enterprise, Squeeky Clean (Scarborough) Ltd, was billed by the council over the 'unauthorised erection of flags'. In correspondence to the company, NYC stated: 'On October 30/31 we removed 64 flags in the Scarborough area believed to be your property and that you may wish us to return them.'
The council elaborated: 'On the basis that all the flags were yours, this equates to £36.27 per flag, plus VAT.' This resulted in a total charge of £2,321.28 plus VAT for the removal work.
Businessman Expresses Shock and Disappointment
Mr Haylett described feeling 'shocked and deeply disappointed' upon receiving the bill, emphasising that 'at no point was there any intention to cause harm, obstruction, or nuisance'. He explained his motivation: 'All I was trying to do was bring a bit of community spirit to the area.'
'A lot of people are struggling and feeling depressed, and the flags genuinely made people smile and lifted spirits,' he continued. 'I've lived in Scarborough all of my life. For years, I've been driving around and seeing local people down and depressed. I thought, what's going on?'
The businessman, who has operated his exterior cleaning and high-level maintenance business for 11 years, revealed he had experienced 'back and forth' with the council prior to receiving the invoice. He commented: 'The council wanted me to stop putting things on "our" lampposts. I thought, what's the problem? It all came from one or two lefties.'
Council Cites Safety Concerns and Public Complaints
Karl Battersby, the council's corporate director of environment, provided justification for the actions: 'Under national legislation, it's an offence to attach flags and other material to lampposts and other highway infrastructure without the council's permission.'
'The reason for this is because they can pose a safety issue by obstructing visibility or becoming detached, and often people put themselves at risk installing them in the first instance,' Mr Battersby explained. 'We also had numerous members of the public report concerns linked to the appearance of the flags.'
The director concluded: 'As a result it was right that we removed them and sought to identify those responsible. We are clear on the issues involved and the costs incurred in removing them. We will not be commenting further on the matter.'
The authority's total removal costs amounted to £6,824.70, though the council noted that for locations where only one flag was removed, they 'would not charge for the five to ten minutes taken to complete that individual task'.
