A PLANNED debate over what will be done with the European flag outside three Renfrewshire Council buildings has been criticised by a Paisley councillor.

The flag has continued to fly outside of Renfrewshire House in Paisley, Renfrew Town Hall and in Houstoun Square in Johnstone despite the UK having left the European Union at the end of last month.

Councillors are set to decide whether the flag will be taken down and whether it will be replaced with any other flags at Thursday’s full council meeting.

READ MORE: Paisley Tory councillor calls for EU flag to be lowered

But Paisley Northeast and Ralston councillor Neill Graham – who put forward a motion for the flag to be lowered – has slammed the “complicated” way in which the council is going about the process.

On Thursday, elected members will be presented with several options of what could be done with the flag, which include continuing to fly it, designing a flag which could be flown in its place when its ready and removing the third flagpole altogether.

Cllr Graham, who voted leave in the 2016 EU referendum, said: “I think the administration is making things more difficult by laying out so many different options.

“We really should just be deciding whether it is flown or not.

“I have already said I would like the flag to be respectfully lowered but continue flying it on Europe Day as we are still friends and still trading partners with Europe.

“If the council decides we want to keep flying it then we have to respect that, but I think having so many different options makes things difficult. We just need to make a decision.”

Some councillors have already suggested a flag representing Renfrewshire or its different areas could be flown instead, but council documents state there is no Renfrewshire flag and there is ‘no obvious default flag’ which could be raised.

Currently the EU flag is flown every day of the year outside the three buildings except on selected days such as Armed Forces Day when a different flag is put up in its place.

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