The Pride flag will be flown at half mast on Community Square, Gravesend, this weekend as a mark of respect for the victims of the Orlando shootings in which 49 people were killed in a gay nightclub.

The multi-coloured “rainbow” flag is a symbol of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

It will be raised from Saturday and fly until Sunday – a week after the atrocity which was the deadliest attack in the United States since 9-11.

In the aftermath of the Paris massacre the French tricolour was flown at half mast on the square.