WORLD cup fever has swept across the city as fans get in the spirit for England’s game against Belgium tonight.

Flags are flying in support of former Sussex schoolboy Gareth Southgate and his men as they prepare for the final match of Group G.

In one impressive display, a team of scaffolders have erected a giant England flag on a building in Hove to celebrate England’s successes in their World Cup matches so far.

Steve Eason and his team from Seasons Scaffolding used safety netting to create the eight-storey flag, which is proudly displayed on Albany Towers in St Catherine’s Terrace on the seafront near Hove Lawns.

Steve said: “It took us about a week to do. We’ve been getting loads of comments, people cheering on the way past.

The flag is 120ft long and 60ft high

Steve said other scaffolders had been particularly impressed and they had received praise from teams as far afield as Chichester and Portsmouth. He said the idea had sprung from conversations between his team in the run-up to the tournament.

He said: “It just felt like a fun thing to do, and we’re happy that people enjoy it.

“We are like a family here and me and the boys have all been watching the football at the pub.”

Asked for his World Cup predictions, Simon said: “We ought to get to the quarter finals and then anything after that’s a bit of fun.”

Scaffolder Lewis Brinley, part of the team, said this was not the first time the team had been creative with building supplies.

He said: “A while ago we made a giant game of human whack-a-mole out of rubbish chutes which was pretty fun. We’ve got a lot of love for the flag this time round, people sharing and commenting on social media.”

Andy Golding, another member of the team, said: “We’re all into football and with the flag up, everyone’s been buzzing.”

Discussing the current tournament, he said: “It’s been the best World Cup I’ve seen in a while.

“My first was Italia 90 which was obviously great, but since then we just haven’t done as well. Euro 96 was good, but I think this is the best I’ve seen England play for several years.”

Unless England lose to Belgium they should finish top of their group, providing they avoid picking up more yellow cards than their opponents.

A win would give England full points from the first three games of the group stages, after beating Tunisia and Panama in Russia so far.