Council looks for contractor to remove flags following staff abuse.

West Dunbartonshire Council sought to hire an external contractor to remove flags from streetlamps after its employees were subjected to verbal harassment. Council workers declined to carry out the task themselves following incidents of "unacceptable" abuse from the public.

The council issued a tender to complete the flag removal, but no companies submitted bids. Earlier this year, flags, including Scottish saltires, appeared across towns and cities in Scotland as part of a social media-driven campaign linked to anti-asylum seeker protests. Similar flag campaigns had previously occurred in England amid debates over immigration.

In a related incident, workers in Aberdeen reported being threatened while taking down flags to install Christmas lights. West Dunbartonshire Council confirmed that the flag removal in their area "was paused due to verbal abuse directed at the staff performing the work." This prompted the council to seek outside contractors to finish the task.

Displaying flags on lampposts is prohibited under the Roads (Scotland) Act 1984. A council spokesperson stated: "The mistreatment of our staff while carrying out their duties is entirely unacceptable. Anyone witnessing or experiencing such behaviour should contact Police Scotland. We will continue to investigate options for safely removing these items."

In September, Aberdeenshire Council also halted flag removal operations after staff faced repeated intimidation and threats.

Author: Caleb Jennings