"Inappropriate for the area"
Local residents in a London borough are up in arms after the left-wing council who control it ordered the local fish and chip shop to remove a Union Jack from its wall describing it as 'inappropriate for the area'.
The fish and chip shop with the 'offending' flag is in the borough of Greenwich, a suburb of London, the UK's capital city.
Incredibly, the council have ordered a British man, to remove the British flag, from the wall of his own shop, situated in the heart of Britain's capital city.
The award-winning fish and chip shop received the ordered from council officials who stated the Union Jack was 'inappropriate for the area'.
Chris Kanizi, 65, who owns Golden Chippy, in Greenwich, south-east London, has been told to paint over the mural of the humanoid fish on the wall of his restaurant, which has been adored by tourists and locals alike for years.
Greenwich council said it received a 'number of complaints' about the mural, which features the phrase 'A Great British Meal', saying that it was 'unauthorised' and had to come down.
However, Greenwich councillors, have been told they can 'fuck off' by local residents after the news emerged. The pithy sentiment was echoed right across Greenwich by those of the more long-standing members of its community. One said the council were "anti-British through and through" whilst another said "they should be made to fly the Union Jack on all public buildings as it is the national flag."
Council staff attempted to justify the order by claiming they had received a 'number of complaints' about the mural, which features the phrase 'A Great British Meal' a cartoon fish and a Union Flag.
It is not the first time Kanizi, who arrived in the UK in 1977 from northern Cyprus, has fallen foul of Greenwich council with his zeal for celebrating fish and chips. In 2016, the town hall ordered him to remove a much larger sign, about 17 feet high, featuring a very similar design, from above the door.
He told The Telegraph: "It’s just something to put a smile on people’s faces. But the council said 'this is a preservation area – you can’t have that and you’ve got to paint over it.' They also said people had been complaining, but I don’t believe that. Everyone who has talked to me say they love it.
A Greenwich council spokesman said: "Following a number of complaints made to local ward councillors, an enforcement case was raised about the mural in question.
"Our Planning Enforcement team is investigating this as it is effectively an unauthorised advert for the chip shop. The owner has agreed to paint over it. We will always try to negotiate with the owner before proceeding to a formal planning enforcement notice."
Greenwich council is run by Labour who have repeatedly drawn criticism in recent months including for having a two minute silence for Palestine last month angering Jewish residents in the borough.
The Borough has over 100,000 Black and Asian residents that are said to have changed the look and feel of the place in recent years. Some residents have suggested that a Palestinian or HAMAS flag would have been past by the council, and that their Anglophobia is at the root of their actions.