Councils have been told to ‘hang their heads in shame’ after it emerged that they spent over £100,000 of taxpayers’ money taking down St George’s and Union Jack flags.

An FOI request revealed that the cash-strapped councils across the UK spent thousands on paying contractors to take down the flags, which had been put up by many locals last year.

A total of 47 councils collectively spent £115,115,35 on removing English and British flags from lamp posts and council-owned properties – with the biggest spenders being the London Borough of Bromley, who paid a shocking £13,500 to employ 12 people to remove them from just two roundabouts in one night.

Read more: UK Councils told to ‘hang their heads in shame’ for spending more than £100,000 of taxpayers’ money to take down St George’s and Union flags