The St George's Cross will fly above Downing Street during the World Cup as a show of support for the England team, David Cameron has announced.

The Prime Minister told the House of Commons he was sure people throughout the United Kingdom "will be cheering 'come on England'," and had given orders for the England flag to replace the Union Flag for the duration of the tournament.

At Prime Minister's Questions Mr Cameron was urged to show his support by Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative MP for Stratford-on-Avon, who said: "I ask you to do a great thing for the people of England and cut through the bureaucracy and nonsense and fly the flag of England over Downing Street for the duration of the World Cup."

Mr Cameron said: "There was some question that this was going to have a cost impact but I've managed to cut through that and I can say that at no additional cost to the taxpayer the flag of St George will fly above Downing Street during the World Cup."

As the residence of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Downing Street traditionally flies the Union Flag, but because no other home nation had qualified for the World Cup, Mr Cameron said he was sure MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would back the move.

He added: "For the purposes of this I'm looking at all the benches here and I'm sure that everyone in this House, no matter what part of the United Kingdom they come from, will be cheering 'come on England'."

Tony Blair, who was prime minister during the last World Cup in 2006, ordered the England flag to be flown from Number 10 on the days of England matches.

Fabio Capello's team begins its campaign against the USA in Rustenburg, South Africa, on Saturday night. The flag will be hoisted on Saturday morning and will stay in place as long as England stay in the tournament.

(Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

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(Agencies)