The council says the lights may have to be cancelled this year unless people take down their flags

A village could go without its Christmas lights due to flags put up over the summer, a council has warned. Harrietsham, near Maidstone, has had the decorations every year along the A20 Ashford Road for as long as residents can remember.

But the area’s parish council says it cannot put them up this year until St George’s flags flying from lamposts along the route are taken down. Kent County Council said it would not remove St George's or Union flags, unless they posed a risk to members of the public.

Cllr Eddie Powell has called on the people who put up the flags to take them down – or risk the lights being cancelled. He said: “When the flags were first erected, the matter was discussed

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