St George’s crosses will most likely be repainted on if they are scrubbed off, a councillor has said.
The red and white flag has continued cropping up on road markings in West Norfolk, especially in North Lynn, South Lynn and Clenchwarton.
Many of the flags painted have since been turned into games of noughts and crosses.
Norfolk County Council previously told the Lynn News that the markings are set to be removed.
However, councillors feel that removing them would only cause more annoyance and mean that the perpetrators would simply etch the crosses back on.
Clenchwarton councillor Steve Bareshaw, who is also deputy mayor of West Norfolk, told the Lynn News that Norfolk County Council’s Highways budget is already stretched without having to pay to scrub off the crosses.
He said: “If you wash them off, you are giving them a blank canvas. It will be a nice bright white and they will just do it again.
“As much as people do not want them there, I think it is a very smart move, but they have to be turned back to normal at some point.
“The Highways are already stretched for resources. If we do not return to regular standards soon, it will happen again and again, and it will be coming out of a budget that is already stretched.”
Cllr Bareshaw agreed with North Lynn Councillors Ben Jones and Austen Moore, who previously said the markings had been spray-painted out of frustration with the Government.
Photographs show noughts and crosses have been painted at six locations in the borough, including two in North Lynn, one in Clenchwarton, two in South Lynn and another on Goodwins Road.
They are likely a response from residents who disagree with the flags being painted.
Councillor for South and West Lynn, Alexandra Kemp, also said the Government “is not doing enough” for working families during the cost of living crisis.
She believes this is one of the reasons the flags have been appearing across the country, as well as allowing more illegal immigrants to arrive in the UK.
She said: “The symbol of St George is about unity and community cohesion.
“We can’t allow criminal gangs, profiteering out of running dangerous boats and putting lives at risk, to divide us.
“The reaction from residents is that the Government is not doing enough, in this cost-of-living crisis, to help working families.
“They compare their struggle to make ends meet, pay for food, rent and energy bills and school bus passes, with what they see as abundant help for people arriving illegally.
“Charity begins at home. The Government should provide more help for families and people on low income and end the two-child benefit cap.
“There should be legitimate pathways and compassion for genuine asylum seekers, but no-one should come in a boat.
“St George, the Patron Saint of England, stood up for his Christian faith in the Roman Empire, and the faint lines marking the flag of St George, on the crossing by the Baptist Chapel in South Lynn, are in an appropriate setting and catch the eye as you drive past.
“But Highways law does not permit unauthorised markings on highway furniture, to prevent the distraction of motorists.
“We have a problem in South Lynn, with motorists not always slowing down or stopping at Wisbech Road crossings. Will the cross of St George make motorists stop and think?
“If so, the flag of St George could have a future as a new Highway safety symbol, which could work better for residents’ safety.
“Slow Down – for England and St George.”
