At least one council in South West London will not be flying Union flags on Prince Andrew's birthday despite local authorities being told to do so.

This comes after an email, seen by The Sun, was sent to councils reminding them to fly the flag for The Duke of York's 60th birthday on February 19

But critics said that the order should be scrapped because of allegations that Andrew slept with Virginia Giuffre who claims she was trafficked by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Of the councils to have responded by the time of publication, only Richmond Council said that it would not fly the flags for the birthday.

A spokesman for Richmond Council said: "The council will not be flying the Union Flags on February 19th."

Elsewhere, Merton, Sutton and Croydon councils all said they would continue to fly the flags, as is the case most days of the year, while Kingston Council said it was waiting on further guidance.

A Merton council spokesman said: "We fly the Union flag outside of the civic centre every day of the year. We have no specific plans to mark Prince Andrew’s birthday.”

A Sutton Council spokeswoman said: "Sutton Council flies the Union flag most days throughout the year, with certain exceptions such as Armed Forces Day and Pride. This is not affected by the recent guidance from Government."

A Croydon Council spokesman said: "We’ll be flying the borough’s flag as usual on that date."

A Kingston Council spokesman said: "We follow Government guidance which is circulated to local authorities on the dates of national significance on which the flag should be flown, including royal birthdays, and are waiting to formally receive the guidance for February."

Both Wandsworth and Epsom & Ewell council have not yet responded to a request for comment.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said that the email reminding local authorities to fly the flag was an administrative email about long-standing policy.

“I understand DCMS (Department of Culture, Media and Sport) and the Royal Household are considering how the policy applies in changing circumstances such as when members of the royal family step back from their duties," he said.

A spokesman for the DCMS added: “This was an administrative email about a long standing policy. We are working with the Royal Household to consider how flag flying policy can be applied in changing circumstances, such as when a member of the Royal Family steps back from public duties.”

Andrew stepped down from public life in November after the fallout from his Newsnight interview.

He was accused of showing a lack of empathy for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims and of failing to show regret over his friendship with the disgraced financier