Essex County Council has confirmed it has no plans to remove swastika symbols from its county hall building.

A member of the public submitted to a Freedom of Information request to the authority asking why they were on the Chelmsford building.

They believed the symbols could be offensive and upsetting to those who fought in the Second World War.

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “Plans for the County Hall building were drawn up from 1908 and our records show that the architect was ordered to finalise the plans in October 1926.

“Given similar designs are featured on a number of other public buildings of similar age across the world, including churches and universities, it is important that the symbol is seen in its architectural context.

“This part of County Hall has Grade II listed status and any changes to this frontage could be extremely costly to the public purse and would have to be approved by English Heritage.

“At this time, Essex County Council is not considering applying for permission to remove the design from the building.”