A Selby town centre shop has appealed to councillors' patriotism, after being told to remove flagpoles from its frontage.

Wetherells department store, in The Crescent, flies flags on special occasions, most recently during England's World Cup campaign this summer.

But company director Mike Hinks said it had received a letter from Selby District Council in September, saying it must take the poles down within 28 days, or apply for retrospective planning permission - or else the planning department's enforcement team would get involved.

Mr Hinks said the family-owned store was determined to keep the right to fly flags. "The Wetherell family feel strongly about this, and so do I. I'm Selby born and bred, and we should be pulling together on issues like this, not pulling apart," he said.

"You get people who really don't seem to have the interest or the heart of the town in mind. I know there's a rulebook, but there has to be some flexibility in applying it."

Mr Hinks said the store had similar flagpoles up before he joined the store 20 years ago, but had taken them down, before replacing them about four years ago.

"After the Queen Mother's death, my managing director said we should go back to displaying flags," he said. "We put two flagpoles on the front, and three down the side - we got a professional company to do it, and they look really good.

"We flew the Union Jack at half mast following her death, and lots of customers commented that it was nice that we'd taken the time and the effort. Again, we put flags up when England were playing in the World Cup - we're patriotic like that."

Mr Hinks said he understood that the building was listed, as it was within the Selby Abbey conservation area. But he said both the Abbey itself and the nearby Londesborough Arms pub flew flags.

Wetherells has now applied for retrospective planning permission. But Mr Hinks said the council's conservation officer, Mike Barrett, had told the store's architect he would strongly recommend that the application be refused.

Coun Steve Shaw-Wright said: "I think the council are being a bit overzealous and quite draconian really. Wetherells is an old building in the centre of town and I think the flags enhance it. It's nothing new in town, and it's far better than some of the garish neon lights we get.

"In general, I'm supportive of this sort of advertising and promotion."

But Philip Milsom, chairman of Selby Civic Society, said: "This is a listed building in a conservation area.

"The Crescent is one of the better features of Selby, we're always looking into people putting up unsuitable signs there. You've got to stick to the rules, or else you get chaos."

A council spokesman said: "These flagpoles require planning permission because they are attached to a listed building. The council first contacted Wetherells about the need for planning permission following a call from a member of the public.

"An application has now been submitted - as yet we do not know when a decision will be made."