Lancashire chip shop forced to remove Union jack.

The owners of a Lancashire fish and chip shop have been forced to take down their Union Jack sign, as it was described as "gaudy" and "too busy". Lesley Salthouse and her husband Peter, who have run Naze Lane Chippy in Freckleton for almost 25 years, were told the sign was not in keeping with the village.

Lancashire is in the U.K right or did it suddenly teleport to Mongolia overnight?

There is nothing more traditional than a Union Jack flag and our patron saint of England is St George so why not have that flag on either side of our sign? "If you go to Spain or Portugal you see their national flag in so many bars and restaurants. "You see more national flags abroad than in our own country, which I think is really sad." Freckleton Parish Council approved the planning application, but it was Fylde Borough Council that denied it on the basis that the design was "oversized and gaudy with too many angles, triangles and colour". Lesley added: "The council called the sign too busy and gaudy, and by saying that they are effectively insulting the national flag and our history. "Do they want to tell the queen that her national flag is too busy and ask her to change or remove it? "It is just utterly ridiculous."

More BS from the PC brigade, as usual, Someone complained, more than likely because they were 'offended' If you are offended by the flag of the country you reside in , then why are you here, it's not rocket science is it ??

lancashire-chip-shop-forc ed-to-remove-gaudy-union-jack-sign

It is nothing to do with PC nonsense (although admittedly there is enough of that anyway) but rather planning law.

When erecting signage over a certain size, you have to comply with local planning regulations. They applied for permission but were denied, being advised it was to gaudy and not in keeping with the rest of the village.

That said, the Parish council approved it, meaning the local people did not mind. it was the county council which rejected it. On this basis, I am saying that the County got it wrong because if the locals don't mind it, then what's the problem?

reply to post by stumason


The Flag had been up for decades untill one person complained. and then down it comes.

At first I thought that it was because there was text added to the flag. I can see how that could upset someone. The source put that to rest though:

...it was Fylde Borough Council that denied it on the basis that the design was "oversized and gaudy with too many angles, triangles and colour".

It's the Jack for christs sake. That's what it is. Sometimes you've just got to :bnghd:

Nope, still doesn't make sense.

I live 15 minutes away from that place - and the reason it's been removed will be nothing to do with regulations. It'll be to do with upsetting people from other ethnic/religious backgrounds. I HATE the fact that sounds racist, but it is unfortunately the truth.

Before anyone tries to play the race card, I have looooots of friends from different ethnic backgrounds and belief systems, it just makes me sad that we're forced to change our ways by the idiots that make the rules. This country is well and truly broken.

I'm no fan of Political Correctness, but they haven't been asked to remove these flags because of any cultural ''sensitivities''.

Rather, it's just old-fashioned British jobsworths and notorious civil servant/council red tape bureaucracy.

do you know what
you dont see half of it

i seen a sign 5 mins walk from mine clearly stateing
NO BRITISH ALLOWED
i have several witnesses to verify it
it was also posted a couple of yrs ago on fakebook
that bugger took the sign down wen 10 british lads (black asian and white) protested outside
the owner was a recent pollish addition to the ever increasing migrants

what i dont understand
unemployment has been the highest in 17 yrs (on news yesterday)
2.7 million unemployed
yet more migrants
im all for helping peeps
but this is beyond logic

Originally posted by Jimbowsk
I have looooots of friends from different ethnic backgrounds and belief systems...

Any Canucks? My point is that the UJ is a symbol, not only of the UK but the Commonwealth as well. The flag of the province I live in:

upload.wikimedia.org...

This is a huge insult to MANY people.

reply to post by Thetawave


With planning law, time is not a factor in most cases. For example, I could build a house in a field and live there for 10 years, but if someone complained and I had no planning permission, I would still have to tear the house down.

In my opinion, the sign is a bit gaudy and to be honest, is not a very well made one as you can't clearly make out the info. In a purely business sense, I would be happy to rip it down and go for one with a better flag motif and clearer information. The sign looks like something out of the '80's and could have done with some updating..

reply to post by intrepid

Opinions differ I guess. I'm a Brit and I HATE that flag. It represents racism, colonialism and cronyism of the worst order, imho. When I want Fish & Chips, or anything else for that matter, the last thing I want to see are signs of Faux Nationalism. Stuff the Union Flag, it's "their" symbol not "ours". A German royal family occupies the British throne. Come on people! Time to wake up and smell the manure...

reply to post by intrepid


As a proud Englishman, I think the usage of the Union Flag (not Jack..that's the Navy) on this sign is, at best, disrespectful just because the sign is just so tacky, but that's my opinion and I wouldn't make a complaint about it.

I think it looks really tacky.

I mean, any flag would look cheap and nasty above the entrance to a chip shop, not just that one.

Can't you treat your flag more respectfully than that ?

Originally posted by LightSpeedDriver
Opinions differ I guess. I'm a Brit and I HATE that flag. It represents racism, colonialism and cronyism of the worst order, imho.

It represents that to you, but that is not what the flag actually represents. It is simply a symbol of the nations of the UK being united. The fact you spin such connotations out of it is your problem.

Originally posted by LightSpeedDriver
When I want Fish & Chips, or anything else for that matter, the last thing I want to see are signs of Faux Nationalism. Stuff the Union Flag, it's "their" symbol not "ours". A German royal family occupies the British throne. Come on people! Time to wake up and smell the manure...

German... Honestly, some people talk such bollocks without even thinking. The Queen is a direct ancestor of Harold of Godwin ffs. We're all descendant of Anglo-Saxons (Germanic tribe), even those as far north as the Scottish lowlands.

The fact that the Royals have German connections from 200+ years ago has no bearing, considering all the Royal houses are intermarried anyway.

What you're essentially saying is that, despite being born and bred in the UK, the Royals are not British because they have some German ancestors. That is racism of the highest order. Would you say the same of a third generation Indian? Can I not call myself English because 200 years ago some of my ancestors were Irish?

Wow - if they think one flag is "too busy" they're really, really not going to like it during the Queen's Diamond Jubilee or the London Olympics now, are they?

Take down a Union Jack in the UK? Whoever heard of such a thing? If you live in England and don't like the Union Jack, it's time you moved to another country.

reply to post by Jimbowsk


Don't ever appologize for speaking your mind and being politically incorrect.
This PC stuff has got to go.

Originally posted by intrepid
This is a huge insult to MANY people.

How is it more of an ''insult'' than having ''traditional fish and chips'' imprinted over the top half of the Union Flag, and having the telephone number of the chip shop scrawled over the bottom half of it ?

That makes no sense whatsoever.

Someone prints commercial advertising on the Union Flag, ''oh, that's fine !'', yet a jobsworth tells them to remove the flag, and it's suddenly a ''huge insult'' ?

Originally posted by Jimbowsk
I live 15 minutes away from that place - and the reason it's been removed will be nothing to do with regulations. It'll be to do with upsetting people from other ethnic/religious backgrounds.

Have you got anything to back up your bizarre ''intuition'' ?

You know, like facts. evidence, etc.

reply to post by stumason

*Cough cough!*

The House of Windsor is the royal house of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded by King George V by royal proclamation on the 17 July 1917, when he changed the name of his family from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (a branch of the House of Wettin) to the English Windsor, due to the anti-German sentiment in the United Kingdom during World War I.

Source

The House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (orig. Haus Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha) is a German dynasty, the senior line of the Saxon House of Wettin that ruled the Ernestine duchies, including the duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

Source
ETA To be clear, I am many things, a racist however is not one of them. Staunch defender of the monarchy are we?

ETA2 You did look at my avatar area and see where I now live, right? Would a racist move to another country of his own free will? Hmmm?

reply to post by LeBombDiggity


The sign should have been designed better and the planners were right imho, it does look a tad 'busy'.

Thetawave was wrong tho...the sign hadnt been there for decades:



Image taken May 2009.Source Google Street.

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


Cough, cough..Proves nothing. All you're doing is backing up your assertion that a family that had German connections (the last foreign born member of the family was George II who ruled 1727-1760) over 200 years ago cannot call themselves British now.

Like I said, I have Irish connection's closer in time, am I Irish then?

You're simplifying it to such a degree, it shows you clearly haven't a clue. All the Royal Houses and nobility of Europe are interconnected, so calling the Queens dynasty German is simply moronic. The House of Hanover, for example, grew from the House of Welf which itself grew from the House of Este, which is primarily a Frankish house but had connection's ranging from Italy to Germany.

Yes, I am a monarchist and I also know what I am talking about, something you clearly do not.

EDIT: I also find it funny that you "HATE" the British flag because of Imperialism etc, but reside in the Netherlands. Not exactly a country with a clean and morally superior colonial past itself.....