A county council is offering support for its staff if they are upset by St George’s or Union Jack flags.
An email was sent to Essex County Council’s "Children & Families Senior Leadership Team".
The council, which covers Epping Forest where a series of protests broke out outside an asylum seeker hotel, encouraged staff to "reach out" if they were feeling "unsettled or affected".
Campaigners across the country displayed flags of St George and the Union Jack, others have been spotted tearing down the flags.
The email told members of staff they could speak to their "line manager, Service Manager, Global Majority Leads, Assistant Director, or Director."
It said: "We’ve recently become aware of the increasing visibility of St George’s and Union Jack flags displayed on road signs, bridges, and trees in parts of Essex.
"While these symbols may hold different meanings for different people, we recognise that for many, particularly our colleagues of colour, they can evoke feelings of discomfort and be associated with anti-immigration rhetoric.
"As your senior leadership team, we want to express our deep concern and solidarity. We stand firmly against all forms of racism and discrimination, and we are committed to fostering a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for everyone.
"If you are feeling unsettled or affected by what you’re seeing, please don’t hesitate to reach out."
Protests breaking out in Essex
|GETTY
Essex County Council responded to the claims, saying they "proudly" fly the English flag outside their headquarters in Chelmsford.
A spokesman said: "An email offering reassurance and the opportunity to seek support was sent on behalf of Essex County Council’s Children and Families Leadership Team to their employees.
"Essex County Council has many employees working with children and families in areas such as Epping where there have been, and continue to be, high profile protests as well as support for the current flag-flying campaign.
"We support people’s right to fly the flag and we proudly fly the St George’s Cross outside County Hall, our headquarters in Chelmsford.”
Essex County Council said they would fly the flag outside their HQ
|WIKICOMMONS
The debate about flags has been widely discussed on GB News.
The People's Channel's senior political commentator Nigel Nelson said: "I woke up to a street full of lamp posts covered in St George's flags.
"I'm not bothered, but I think the whole thing is a bit silly, I think it's a fad.
"I think people will get fed up very quickly about going up lampposts to put the flags there.
Union Jack flags on display along the sea front in Southend-on-Sea, Essex
|PA
Reacting to Nigel's comments, GB News contributor Dr Renee Hoenderkamp stated: "The flag is our national flag, our flag should mean identity, our flag should mean being English.
"Nigel, it's people like you that have allowed this approach to our national heritage, to our national pride. The fact that we have no national pride is the problem.
"You have pushed us too far, you people on the left, so people are saying 'no, enough, we are proud to be British'.
"If you want to come here, be proud to be British, if you don't, don't come here."
Police outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, where asylum seekers are believed to have been housed | PAAsked by Dr Hoenderkamp if he is "proud to be British", Nigel concluded: "This idea about being proud to be British... I'm pleased to be British.
"I'm not proud to be British because I had no hand in the fact I am British.
"I'm proud of working for GB News, but I actually do something here."