Veterans have been denied the opportunity to have a union flag draped at their funerals over “coronavirus fears”.

The family of Second World War veteran, Major Frank Clark, were wrongly told he couldn’t have the British flag draped over his coffin, which was his dying wish.

Their request to undertakers was turned down because they said Southend Crematorium had vetoed the use of flags.

The council has now confirmed there were no restrictions in place - but the mix-up has led to other veterans being denied their wish.

Southend councillor Stephen Aylen who is associated with Major Clark’s family, said: “On making enquires with the funeral directors and the Southend crematorium office the flag under their Covid rules would not be allowed.

“The guy was a war hero. They told us several servicemen had been denied a flag on their coffins. It’s very sad.”

Major Clark, from Rochford, who died this month aged 96 will now have a funeral ceremony at Pitsea Crematorium where no such rule is applied.

W Thorp & Son Funeral Directors in Leigh are dealing with the funeral. A spokesman said: “When we were advised by staff at Southend Crematorium that they will not currently accept coffins draped with flags, we discussed this with our client.

“We then made arrangements for the funeral to take place at Basildon & District Crematorium who were happy to accommodate the family’s wishes.”

The former Grenadier Guard served in the army for 37 years, taking part in the historic Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands. His funeral will take place on April 19.

A Southend Council spokesman said: “We are fully supportive of the use of flags at funeral services and there are no restrictions on flags in place.

’We are contacting funeral directors who are authorised to use our services to ensure they are aware of our stance on items on coffins.We have also reminded relevant teams within the council.

“We are sorry that they received contradictory advice to this and would encourage anyone with queries about a funeral to contact the Bereavement Services Team bereavementservices@southend.gov.uk