A company director has been ordered to pay £1,763.50 after his firm illegally put signs up across the East Riding advertising a Christmas event in Beverley.
Paul Leonard, director of Cottage Industrys Ltd of Ings Lane, Dunswell, had a significant number of advertising boards placed on the public highway without permission in October last year to promote a Mistletoe Fair at Beverley Racecourse taking place in November.
Mr Leonard pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to fly-posting when he appeared at Beverley Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday 21 February.
The firm was fined £1,000 and was ordered to pay £763.50 costs.
The court heard streetscene enforcement officers from East Riding of Yorkshire Council spotted a number of large signs advertising the Mistletoe Fair had been placed on roadside verges at various major junctions and roundabouts across the area.
Officers contacted Mr Leonard on October 30 last year. They warned him he was committing an offence and gave him the opportunity to remove the signs.
But the firm failed to take away many of the boards by a given date and 44 of the signs had to be removed by council officers.
The boards had been staked into grass verges on main roads including the A1079 around Market Weighton, Pocklington and Beverley, the A164 around Skidby, Cottingham, Anlaby and Willerby, and on the A165 at Long Riston and Brandesburton, as well as in Cherry Burton and Walkington.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council is reminding residents and businesses that it is a criminal offence under the Highways Act 1980 to place a sign on highways land without the council’s permission.
Unauthorised advertising placed on land next to roads can be an obstruction, nuisance or danger to motorists, and may even contribute to road accidents due to distraction.
The council can issue a £75 fixed penalty notice for each illegal sign or poster.
If a case is heard in court anyone found guilty of fly-posting could be fined up to £2,500.
The council may also remove all signs and the costs incurred can be recovered from the person responsible.
Mike Featherby, head of streetscene services at the council, said: “We will act to investigate any signs put up on the highway without permission as they could be a hazard to motorists.”
All advertising should take place on private land but may be subject to planning restrictions. Advice can be given by the council’s planning department.
For more information on fly-posting, or to report an offence, visit the council’s website www.eastriding.gov.uk and search for ‘fly-posting’.
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