Staff banned from flying the England flag and chanting

Workers at the Land Rover plant in Solihull and council staff in Newcastle upon Tyne have been ordered to remove their flags of St George, that symbol of World Cup patriotism that can be seen fluttering across England.

A spokeswoman for Land Rover in the West Midlands said: "We asked them to take them down because we are a diverse firm and to allow England flags to be displayed would have meant allowing flags of other competing nations to be put up as well."

There was simply not enough room for all the flags, she added.

The factory is closed all next week for its annual shutdown so staff will be able to watch the England games against Sweden and Argentina tomorrow and Friday. Land Rover insisted it would ensure that staff who were working during England's final group game would not miss out. The spokeswoman said: "We are going to Tannoy coverage of the Nigeria game on 12 June on to the production line."

Meanwhile, managers at Newcastle City Council have been sent a memo warning them not to let patriotic staff get carried away during the World Cup or to display the flag of St George for fear of offending non-England supporters.

Peter Bower, the council's head of human resources, told managers to ensure that the authority's 15,000 staff maintained their professionalism during the tournament and avoided causing offence.

During the 1998 World Cup in France the council dismissed a staff member who supported England after he became involved in an argument with his Irish manager.

Mr Bower advised managers in the memo: "If England progress to the later stages of the tournament we know staff will want to express their support but you will need to exercise discretion to ensure this does not offend others who may, for example, be supporting other national teams."

Martin Callanan, Conservative MEP for the North-east, said Newcastle City Council's ban was "barmy" and "political correctness gone mad".

He added: "It is ridiculous that at this exciting time when everybody is focusing on England's efforts in the Far East this killjoy attitude has prevailed at the civic centre.

"In the offices of the MEPs in Brussels there are many different national flags flying. It seems perfectly reasonable and in the spirit of healthy competition and the ethos of the World Cup to want to publicly support the national team," he said.