A blue and yellow Ukrainian flag is flying above Totnes Civic Square as a gesture of solidarity with the people, government and president of the war-torn country.

The town council has raised the flag in the heart of the town in response to the” illegal invasion by Russia” into the sovereign state of Ukrainian, and says it will support the country’s needs as best it can during the crisis.

Councillors also voted to investigate other ways to help Ukraine including twinning with a similar sized town, encouraging the sponsorship of refugees and lighting up the Civic Hall.

Speaking in favour of Cllr Jacqi Hodgson’s proposal at the recent full council meeting, Cllr Louise Webberley said “Plymouth and Torbay have done the same.

“When I was walking in Plymouth last Saturday I saw the flag up, and also the theatre royal have blue and yellow, and it was just really heart-warming.

“It is just a simple act of showing our support.”

Cllr Webberley also supported the twinning suggestion put forward by a member of the public, hailing it a “visual way of showing solidarity” with a Ukrainian town.

Cllr Louise Webberley
Cllr Louise Webberley (contributed)

But Cllr Marion Adams was against the idea of twinning while the country is at war.

“If Ukraine comes out of this as a sovereign state then that’s the time to twin but with everything that’s going on at the moment if Putin, I hate to say it, invades every state and then we find out we are twinned with one of those towns, I would not be comfortable,” she said.

Cllr Emily Price agreed, adding: “My feeling is they are going to have quite a lot on and this is not really going to be a priority.”

Cllr Sarah Collinson suggested lighting up the Civic Hall to show solidarity.

“Could we look at the more tangible things we could do as a council too?” she asked.

“I know the government are considering, or have they introduced this, the personal sponsorship of refugees?

“We could try to publicise that as an option for people in this town - to put their names forward for that.

“It’s not for this meeting now, but maybe there are a number of things that we could consider?”

Cllrs Webberley and Collinson agreed to link up with various groups in the town and to report back any Ukraine-supporting ideas to the council.