A council was forced to spend more than £7,000 removing dozens of flags from lampposts, a new report has revealed.
Documents released under Freedom of Information rules revealed Aberdeen City Council spent £7,349 hiring an external firm to take down roughly 100 flags that had been illegally placed on lampposts throughout the city.
The decision to bring in a contractor followed incidents in November where council employees were subjected to verbal threats in the Kincorth area whilst attempting to remove the flags to prepare for Christmas light installations.
The removal work, which covered the Cove, Kincorth and Seaton neighbourhoods, was completed over two days in early March.
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Callum McGoldrick, investigations campaign manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance, told GB News: "Aberdeen council bosses should hang their heads in shame at such a pointless waste of money."
Attaching flags to lampposts contravenes the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984.
The flags placed on the lampposts, which included Scottish saltires, were erected as part of a social media-driven initiative by a group associated with demonstrations opposing asylum seekers.
Similar displays had taken place across England, where Union flags and St George's crosses were both hung from lamp posts and painted onto traffic islands.
Aberdeen City Council spent £7,349 hiring an external firm to take down roughly 100 flags
|GETTY
The campaign saw flags appearing in numerous towns and cities throughout Scotland during the previous year.
Aberdeen City Council has declined to identify the contractor hired for the removal operation, citing concerns about potential reprisals against the business and its staff.
The authority stated that revealing the company's identity could expose it to targeting by those opposed to taking down the flags.
"Disclosing the name of the business would enable any individuals who are opposed to the removal of the flags to target or cause damage to that business and their staff," the council said in its FOI response.
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The campaign saw flags appearing in numerous towns and cities throughout the country last year
|PA
The concerns follow a separate incident in Peterhead where Aberdeenshire Council halted flag removal operations in September after its workers encountered similar intimidation and threats.
The authority added that protecting the business and its employees was paramount, warning that disclosure "could increase the risk of threats, vandalism, or other criminal actions directed towards them."
News of the council waste spending comes just days after members of the Raise the Colours group were attacked and declared unwelcome in Oxford after they installed St George and Union Jack flags on a busy street.
The incident unfolded at approximately 5pm on March 24 during peak rush hour on Abingdon Road, Grandpont, with the group using a cherry-picker van marked Highway Maintenance to attach flags on both sides of the busy carriageway.
Ryan Bridge, one of the co-founders of the group, told GB News: "We just wanted to support Oxfordshire, as they had flags taken down by the council at a cost of £51 per lamppost. We assisted them erecting flags to install patriotism and unity across the board.
"We were attacked verbally and physically four times in Oxford by four members of the public, verbally attacked all night and called scumbags, racists, nazis, and fascists.
"I was punched, kicked and hit by a bike - I've paid tax into the country for years, and I believe those who attacked us are traitors to their country.
"The amount of abuse from residents of Oxford was an absolute disgrace, and I commend the police, who handled the situation and protected us by keeping the mob away from us".