Jones complaint triggers review of 400-signature North Wales flag petition

Arfon Jones has lodged a formal complaint with Wrexham Council over Welsh flags on lampposts in north wales, asking for them to be removed from the city centre. The former North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner said the displays were causing "fear and intimidation" among vulnerable residents.

The complaint comes as a petition launched three weeks ago by Lower The Flags Wrexham has gathered 400 names. Wrexham Council said the issue is under active review and that Jones's complaint has triggered an internal investigation.

Wrexham lampposts complaint

Jones said the flags and banners were not a neutral decoration issue. He said they amounted to "a display of racism intended to put fear into the heart of minority communities" and that hanging flags on lampposts is about racism. He also said the proliferation of flags and banners could distract drivers and create a danger on the roads.

Lower The Flags Wrexham said its petition targeted illegally placed banners on the city's lampposts. In its wording, the group called the displays a "blatant misuse of public space.... by allowing these symbols of division". The petition gave campaigners a formal route to press the council, rather than relying only on online argument.

Arfon Jones and Wrexham Council

Wrexham Council said it "does not condone any form of hate towards any individual or group". It said it would not proactively remove flags unless they were seen to be causing an obstruction or posing a risk. Area supervisors have been briefed to keep an eye on roadsides.

That leaves the council weighing a complaint about intimidation against its stated threshold for intervention. Jones says the display itself is the problem; the council has said action depends on whether the flags obstruct or endanger.

Iolanda Banu Viegas in Wrexham

Iolanda Banu Viegas, the North Wales hate crime officer for Race Council Cymru, said immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers were suffering anxiety and feeling intimidated by being surrounded by flags and symbols designed to make them feel unwelcome. She said, "It is heartbreaking, exhausting, and terrifying to feel unsafe in your own skin."

Viegas has lived in Wrexham for 25 years, and the dispute has sharpened since January, when plans to house up to 70 asylum seekers in Rhosllanerchrugog sparked a public backlash before the proposal for the former Plas yn Rhos care home was dropped. The petition and complaint now give the council a specific case to examine in Wrexham city centre, where the flags remain in place while the review continues.