A businessman who used his company's cherry picker to put Union Jack flags on lampposts has been ordered by the council to pay nearly £3,000.
Will Haylett, 43, maintains he was simply attempting to 'lift people's spirits' by adding the patriotic bunting throughout Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
But much to his disbelief, North Yorkshire Council (NYC) sent him a bill demanding £2,785.50 after the local authority took down the 64 flags.
Removing Union and St George's flags across the county has cost the local authority almost £7,000 since July 2025, a Freedom of Information request has revealed.
Mr Haylett's cleaning and maintenance firm Squeeky Clean (Scarborough) Ltd was invoiced by the authority over the 'unauthorised erection of flags'.
In a letter to the company, NYC said: 'On October 30/31 we removed 64 flags in the Scarborough area believed to be your property and that you may wish us to return them.
'On the basis that all the flags were yours, this equates to £36.27 per flag, plus VAT.'
Mr Haylett said he was 'shocked and deeply disappointed' at the bill, and added that 'at no point was there any intention to cause harm, obstruction, or nuisance'.
Will Haylett, 43, maintains he was simply attempting to 'lift people's spirits' when he used his company's cherry picker to attach flags to lampposts throughout Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
The cleaning and maintenance firm boss was sent a bill of £2,321.28 plus VAT for the removal of 64 flags.
'All I was trying to do was bring a bit of community spirit to the area.
'A lot of people are struggling and feeling depressed, and the flags genuinely made people smile and lifted spirits.
'I've lived in Scarborough all of my life. For years, I've been driving around and seeing local people down and depressed. I thought, what's going on?
'I have a cherry picker, so I thought I could help lift people's spirits by putting up a few flags here and there. It was to bring us all together and put smiles on people's faces.'
Before receiving the bill, Mr Haylett, who has operated his exterior cleaning and high-level maintenance business for 11 years, said he had experienced 'back and forth' with the council.
He said: 'The council wanted me to stop putting things on "our" lampposts. I thought, what's the problem? It all came from one or two lefties.'
The council's corporate director of environment, Karl Battersby, said: 'Under national legislation, it's an offence to attach flags and other material to lampposts and other highway infrastructure without the council's permission.
'The reason for this is because they can pose a safety issue by obstructing visibility or becoming detached, and often people put themselves at risk installing them in the first instance.
Mr Haylett said he was 'shocked and deeply disappointed' at the bill, and added that 'at no point was there any intention to cause harm, obstruction, or nuisance'
Mr Haylett said 'a lot of people are struggling and feeling depressed, and the flags genuinely made people smile and lifted spirits'
'We also had numerous members of the public report concerns linked to the appearance of the flags.
'As a result it was right that we removed them and sought to identify those responsible.
'We are clear on the issues involved and the costs incurred in removing them. We will not be commenting further on the matter.'
The authority's total costs came to £6,824.70; however, for locations where only one flag was removed, the council said it 'would not charge for the five to ten minutes taken to complete that individual task'.