A FOOTBALL fan has kicked off after he did not receive an England flag in his national newspaper.

John Copner bought The Sun to receive the free flag ready to support England.

But when he opened the newspaper there was no free flag, and he was told by his local newsagents that people in Wales had to ring the newspaper's hotline number to claim their flag.

Mr Copner, 70, of Ridgeway, Killay, said he felt discriminated against because he was Welsh.

He said: "If I lived in England I would have had a flag inside the newspaper on Saturday, as advertised. As I live in Wales, the newspaper took the view that the Welsh do not want to support England.

"It is false advertising, as it said there would be a free flag inside on the front page and it had been advertised in the week. I feel misled. To be told I had to ring a hotline number — I thought that was wrong."

The grandfather of four said he called the hotline number on Saturday, but the lines were busy.

He added: "Should there be any conditions whether somebody from England or Wales gets a flag? If this was a Welsh language issue they would be up in arms about such discrimination."

Mr Copner said Prime Minister David Cameron had encouraged the whole of the UK to get behind England for the World Cup.

"How can this be a United Kingdom when only England get free flags in the newspaper?" he said.

A Sun spokeswoman said there had been an error in production and that Wales should not have had the offer.

She said: "It was only an England-only offer as England are in the World Cup.

"It was a production error and it should not have gone out in Wales on Saturday. If anybody would like a flag, they can call our customer service number on 020 7860 1131."