Bunting is to be hung in Knaresborough to celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day on May 8.

Commemorations will be held across the country to mark 1945’s Victory in Europe Day, when German forces surrendered to the Allies.

At a meeting on Monday, Knaresborough Town Council agreed to decorate the town with bunting.

Clerk Angela Pulman was authorised to spend as close as possible to the £5,000 set in the town council’s 2024/25 budget on the decorative flags.

Ms Pulman warned that bunting “is not cheap” and that the cost of buying, installing and removing it would be a “significant outlay for the council”.

The cost for having it throughout the town centre could be as much as £8,000, she added, but the sum was more likely to be in the region of £5,000 if bunting were limited to High Street and Market Place.

Concerns were raised about duplicating VE Day efforts by other local groups, including Knaresborough Business Collective, as well as what the bunting would be made of and whether it would be too flimsy to last for several months.

Councillors eventually agreed to delegate responsibility for purchasing the bunting to Ms Pulman.

Councillor Hannah Gostlow, a Liberal Democrat who represents Scriven Park, said the bunting would stay up for several months after VE Day and provide a boost to businesses.

The meeting also heard about plans by the town council to draw up a business case to take over the weekly Wednesday market. You can read about that here.