'People think I'm racist but I've always seen the St George's Cross and the Union Jack as a sign of hope'

PATRIOTIC SIMON PAINTS FLAG ON HIS HOUSE

- By LOUIS CORBETT

THE people of Sutton-in-Ashfield have taken flag-bearing to another level.

Lampposts everywhere display the signs of Operation Raise The Colours but one resident has gone above and beyond.

Simon Brocklehurst, 41, decided to paint the St George's Cross on the front of his property, which he's lived in since he was five years old, after his flag was ripped down, stating: “They can’t rip this one down.”

The dad wanted to make his family home a landmark of the flag campaign which started in August after a series of anti-immigration protests in the wake of an asylum seeker being arrested on suspicion of sexual assault in Epping, Essex.

Simon told the Post that he feels a patriotic connection to the flag and wanted to represent the “freedom” that his grandfather fought for in the Second World War.