The road to Seborga is paved with pavement…the question is who owns it?

If you have seen the film Passport To Pimlico, and I would recommend that anyone thinking of starting their own country should rent it immediately, you’ll relate to the story of Seborga.

To the rest of the world Seborga is a pretty little town located in the Italian Alps. To the people who live there it is a 14km2 independent state with its own stamps, coins and obligatory Prince.

Seborga’s claim to independence goes back to 1729 when an administrative blunder left the town in a kind of geopolitical twilight zone. The situation was further compounded when, after the Second World War, the area got left out of the formation of the Italian Republic in 1946. For Seborgans this is proof positive that they stand alone.

However, it wasn’t until the early 1960’s, when the head of the local flower growers co-operative, Giorgio Carbone, began promoting the idea that Seborga’s territory still technically retained its historic independence, that things really started to hot up in this sleepy little town.

Over the last forty years, Prince Giorgio, as he has become known, has created and then disbanded his own militia, been taken to court by the Italian government for non payment of duty on stamps, erected a border crossing that so offended the Italian government that it was torn down, and organised a referendum amongst his citizens to reinforce their right to self-determination.

As leaders of struggling micronations go this guy is right up there. From flower grower to head of an independent state, now that's what I call progress… and what makes it really interesting is that he has the complete support of his citizens. Nice going Giorgio.

The battle with the Italian authorities continues to this very day. The Seborgans have taken to painting their national crest on the road at their frontier with Italy – in response the Italians keep tarmacking over it.