Marks & Spencer has confirmed its Union Flag bags have been withdrawn from a food hall location in the UK after backlash from nationalist shoppers. The retailer withdrew the reusable bags-for-life from its branch in Sprucefield Shopping Centre in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, after they were sent to the store "by mistake". Customers at the food hall were left furious at having no choice but to use the Union Flag-emblazoned carriers after a mixed-up shipment.

M&S usually offers an alternative countryside design on its Northern Ireland bags in a bid for cultural sensitivity. One shopper told Sunday World: "I couldn't believe it. I asked the shop assistant, and they said that was the only bag they had. I had so many groceries, I had to use a bag and then I had to bring it home. I was personally insulted."

"It's just as well as I was able to drive right up to my door because I wouldn't want to be seen walking down the street with that," they added. "It wouldn't go down well to say the least."

The major retailer introduced regionally themed paper bags in 2024, following M&S's announcement to phase out plastic bags for life and move towards a more eco-friendly alternative.

The bags retail at 40p each and can carry up to 15kg. The water-resistant bags are also recyclable once they become worn. Each bag features a distinctive design representing England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland, crafted using produce arranged into national symbols.

The England bag displays a fruit-based union flag, while Scotland's design uses oats and berries to form St Andrew's Cross. Wales is represented by a dragon built from vegetables and spices. And the Republic's bag depicts the island using green vegetables.

An M&S spokesman said the Union Flag bags were mistakenly sent to Northern Ireland and had now been withdrawn.

They said: "We offer a range of regional carrier bag designs which are popular with our customers in each part of the UK and the Republic of Ireland.

"This includes a farmland-based design for Northern Ireland in reference to the wide range of food products we source from the region.

"On this occasion, our Lisburn store was mistakenly sent a batch of bags featuring the England design, which found their way to some customers when the store ran out of Northern Ireland bags."

However, a spokesperson for the Traditional Unionist Voice party (TUV) took issue with the decision, arguing that M&S should not have been required to withdraw bags it routinely uses elsewhere across the country.

He questioned whether the same customers objecting to the bags had any difficulty "handling the currency of the UK" which they would have used when making purchases at M&S.

"I would like to ask if they had a problem taking change from M&S, which bears the head of our late monarch, her majesty the queen or our current monarch, King Charles," he said.

"If you are going to be offended by one symbol, as in the bag, then why not the other, our currency? I don't know what was triggering about this, whatever that means. We are a sovereign part of the UK, and I can't see why M&S should have to remove a bag that can be used in other parts of the UK."