England marks St George's Day

For the first time in recent memory the flag of St George will be flown over 10 Downing Street in honour of England’s patron saint's day.

The only recent occasion when the flag of St George has been flown over Number 10 was during the 2006 World Cup - a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.

He added that, following the completion last month of a consultation on flag-flying, Number 10 will in future fly the Scottish Saltire and the Welsh dragon on those countries’ saint’s days. Northern Ireland has no official national flag.

“The Prime Minister’s view is that of course we should celebrate our Britishness, but celebrating our Britishness does not mean we cannot also celebrate our Englishness, Scottishness, Welshness or Northern Irishness,” the spokesman said.

Tributes taking place around the country include a display of England footie shirts hanging proud above London's Carnaby Street.

And a celebration of English food is also happening in the heart of the capital.

The world famous Borough Market will move to Trafalgar Square, with stalls selling oysters and shellfish from Cornwall, Westmorland wild boar and pork, Chelsea buns and Eccles cakes.

There will also be stage entertainment and street theatre.

Even Sir Winston Churchill is joining in the fun as the former Prime Minister's statue in Parliament Square, London, stands proud next to a St George's flag.

In other parts of the country, a millionaire boss has given his staff the day off to mark St George's day.

Patriot David Haythornthwaite has given his 120 employees a paid extra holiday, because he believes the day should be celebrated by the English.

“Every time you read the newspapers they say we should celebrate St George’s Day and it should be a public holiday,” he said.

“Unfortunately nobody does anything about it, I decided to do something and give all of our staff the day off, maybe more firms will think about it.”