A few weeks ago I blogged on Newcastle City Council being forced to take down the EU flag because it required planning permission to be flown.

Despite their apparent abhorrence to bureaucratic nonsense, UKIP were positively revelling in the decision.

But angry fist waving in UKIP’s north east offices will be back on the agenda after it was confirmed that the outdated laws on flying flags will be abandoned next spring.

The current law means flying a national (or EU) flag is illegal unless it is fluttering from a vertical flag pole, meaning much of the country spent the entire World Cup breaching planning laws.

New regulations, which come into force in April 2007 will mean any flag, can be flown in any manner, by anyone.

So, Newcastle City Council better dust off their EU flag ready to fly in the face of the Eurosceptics.