A war of the roses has broken out over a poster being used to promote Yorkshire Day.

The leaflet was produced by Councillor John Carroll to mark the day of heritage and uses a graphic of a coat of arms showing the traditional white rose - emblem of Yorkshire.

It has been displayed in the library, shops and town hall in Shipley, which is set to become a centre for Yorkshire pride on a day of celebration on August 1.

But Jeff Utley, of Bradford Road in Otley, has written to Coun Carroll to say the flower on the shield is upside down.

He advised the councillor: "West Riding's roses should be depicted with a single petal to the top - think of a stick-man drawing with head, two arms and two legs."

Mr Utley joked that this was "sacrilege and a treasonable offence" in the county - like hanging the Queen's portrait the wrong way up.

But Coun Carroll, who created the poster on his home computer, said the diagram was taken from the Yorkshire Ridings Society web page.

"I had a letter from the man and I have written back in Yorkshire dialect saying I was reight proper sorry if it was upside down but I would have thought the Ridings Society would have got it right. It was a very jocular letter so I replied in the same style.

"I am not embarrassed in the least, if I have got it wrong, I hold my hands up to it. The main thing is to promote Shipley and to promote Yorkshire Day."

He said he checked it in the Encyclopaedia Britannica and discovered they had got it the wrong way up. Dalesman publications also show the white rose with a petal at the top on their products.

But Sean Emmett, an executive member of Yorkshire Ridings Society, said: "Absolutely not. The correct way is to have one petal directly at the bottom and a pair at ten to two.

"The rose dates back to the War of the Roses in the 15th century. The Yorkshire rose has always pointed down while the Lancastrian red rose points up.

"The only part of Yorkshire to display it up is the East Riding of Yorkshire and though I cannot verify the reason it is done the opposite way, I think it is to show support for the Lancastrian cause. I feel what is important is that the rose is white and not how you display it."