A taxi firm has been forced to remove all poppies and “Lest We Forget” signs after receiving just one complaint.

Swale Borough Council ordered iCars Swale, a Kent-licensed taxi and minicab operator serving the Isle of Sheppey, to make the changes after it was found carrying signage that breached the council’s licensing conditions.

The company was told that the remembrance symbols constituted unauthorised displays under the borough’s licensing policy and that they must be removed from all vehicles immediately.

Mr Neil McLennan, the owner of the local taxi firm, described the decision as “absolutely disgraceful.”

He told GB News: “All of my drivers feel strongly about it. We’ve had veterans and current servicemen that have worked for us, and to be told that you can’t support them anymore is disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful.

“We’re being told that we cannot support the people who are giving their lives, and that is disgraceful.”

They were also instructed to remove the names designated on three wheelchair-accessible vehicles the firm uses to transport disabled passengers, which were designed to help identify which taxi had been sent to pick them up.

Mr McLennan told the People’s Channel: “They’re named for a specific reason to help people with dementia and Alzheimer’s and learning difficulties and stuff to recognise their car.”

He added: “How can someone feel so aggrieved that you have to take these off the back of a vehicle? It’s not causing anyone any problem. It’s just showing that we support veterans and the guys that have given their lives for us in the past and are currently serving.”

The firm first announced the news on Facebook, writing: “I find myself rather shamefully having to remove Poppies and Lest We Forget signs from our vehicles.

“This is not through choice but as a result of a complaint made about our vehicles to Swale Borough Council about slogans and advertising on them.”

They described the removal of the remembrance displays as “disheartening and disrespectful” to those they sought to honour.

The company attends the Cenotaph in Sheerness to lay a wreath as part of its commitment to honouring the fallen each year, with military veteran and now driver Neville Fourie participating last year.

The council pointed to clause 5.1 of its licensing policy, which prohibits the display of any “signs, notices, advertisements, plates, marks, numbers, letters, figures, symbols, emblems or devices whatsoever” on licensed vehicles unless specifically approved by the authority.

Councillor Dolley Wooster questioned both the decision and the failure to involve local ward representatives in the process.

In a letter to the council, he wrote: “I cannot find any notes as to why this has been done and why were ward Cllrs not informed of the process so we could come and speak for the business or at least support them?”

He added: “This company goes above and beyond for residents all the time, including support of veterans.”

Read More: Taxi firm ordered to remove poppies and ‘Lest we forget’ signs in ‘shameful’ ruling after complaint