Olympic logo flag too costly for Shrewsbury bunting plan

Thousands of pounds will be spent decking out Shrewsbury town centre in colourful flags to celebrate the Olympic games – but the bunting will not include the iconic Olympic rings logo because it will be 'too expensive'.

Shrewsbury Town Council is planning to spend about £2,000 on 200 flags to be put up around the town ahead of the arrival of the Olympic torch on May 30.

It was hoped some of the flags would have featured the official Olympic logo, but officials today said the cost of these individual ones would be more than double the price of the standard Union Jack and Shrewsbury Town Council flags.

Mayor of Shrewsbury, councillor Tony Durnell said the price of the Olympic flags was 'astronomical'.

He said: "It was definitely more than double the £10 each we are paying for the other flags and it was decided it would not have been prudent to spend that amount of money.

"It is all to do with the copyright on the Olympic logo. All the Olympic merchandise is expensive and this was no exception.

"It was also decided that having just Olympic flags would be at loggerheads with the other celebrations in the town this summer, including the Queen's Diamond Jubilee."

The flags idea was put forward by the town council in November as a way to help Shrewsbury get into party spirit ahead of the double celebration of this year's Olympic games and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

It is hoped the flags, which will be made from PVC and will be washable, will be able to be used again in the future.

They will be hung from the same brackets that usually hold the Christmas trees in Shrewsbury, but will allow room for traditional hanging baskets to be placed underneath at a later stage.

Flags will also be donated to council buildings such as Rowley's House museum in Barker Street. A window-dressing competition is also being considered.