Police probe 'petrol bomb attack' on man hanging St George's Flags

Hertfordshire Police say a man in his 30s suffered a cut to the head after being struck by a glass bottle containing a lit rag.

A group calling themselves Stevenage Patriots posted footage of the incident in which a bottle and flames can be seen on the ground near a man with a head wound and blood on his face and hands.

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In the video, one person can be heard saying: “Just finished the night, three hours of flagging – and our boy has been petrol-bombed.

“A petrol bomb was thrown at the car, smashed straight onto his head.”

Ch Insp Sarah Gilbertson said: “Officers attended and spoke with the victim, a man in his 30s, who had suffered a laceration to his head.

“He was taken to Lister Hospital in Stevenage for treatment. It appears that the victim was struck by a glass bottle containing a lit rag and sustained a cut to his head.

Flag-raising groups have sprung up across Britain in recent days, as part of an online trend called "Operation Raise the Colours".

The trend started with residents in Birmingham installing hundreds of flags throughout the city last week in a 'patriotic outpouring' and has since been followed by others across the country.

Birmingham City Council announced that it had removed the flags as it was upgrading streetlights to energy-efficient LED lighting.

Countless towns have now seen guerrilla flag raisings in response.