Tough new approach on unauthorised advertising
Warwickshire County Council is cracking down on unauthorised advertising on the highway.
The county council is enlisting the district and borough councils to help tackle businesses which place large advertising hoardings on public highways.
Meanwhile, Cllr Alan Farnell, Leader of Warwickshire County Council, has called on the Government to provide extra powers to deal with repeat offenders.
Currently, the police and county councils have powers to tackle hoardings which cause obstruction, while the district and borough councils deal specifically with illegal advertisements.
In Warwickshire, there is a frequent problem with businesses placing large mobile advertising hoardings on or close to public highways. These often distract drivers or obstruct visibility for motorists, spoil the appearance of an area and create an unfair advantage over businesses which abide by the rules.
Cllr Farnell is determined to clamp down on the problem and believes the current laws need to be reinforced to give local authorities more power.
He said: “We are taking a tougher stance on illegal roadside advertising in the county but we need additional Government legislation to tackle businesses repeatedly flouting the law.
“We are calling on the Government to act on behalf of communities where this is a continual problem and where this sort of guerrilla advertising is creating an unfair advantage over those that keep within the rules.
“I will be writing to the Government to ask for more help in dealing with these businesses, because they have been getting away with it for far too long. We need to close the loopholes in the existing legislation.”
The district and borough councils presently have certain specific enforcement powers to deal with advertising and can prosecute a person who displays an advertisement in contravention of the advertising regulations. An offender can be fined £2,500.
If, despite a prosecution, a person continues to display an advertisement in contravention of the advertising regulations, they can be guilty of a continuing offence and a fine for each day that the offence continues.