Mobile: 0794 120 1995
.....to deter fly-posting
Wiltshire Council has raised the amount of the Fixed Penalty Notice (FPN) people will have to pay if they are caught illegally advertising in Wiltshire. The penalty fine has increased to £500 from the previous amount of £75 and has been implemented following feedback from local communities reporting more incidents of fly-posting.
Fly-posting or illegal advertising is defined as the display of advertising material on buildings or street furniture without the consent of the owner or occupier of the land or premises. This is an offence under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and the Highways Act 1980.
Other types of unauthorised advertisements such as hoardings or A boards fall outside of the remit of fly-posting.
Adverts erected on the public highway or attached to street furniture, such as lampposts or road traffic signs, require permission from Wiltshire Council.
The council will take action against any signs on the public highway or on council-owned land.
In the first instance and in small-scale cases, this may be a warning letter advising the person fly-posting that they should remove the advertisements, and if they comply and do not do it again the matter will be closed. If any signs are deemed dangerous or the owner is unknown, officers will remove them immediately.
If fly-posters fail to comply with a warning or they are repeat or large-scale offenders, the council will take further action. This could mean issuing a fixed penalty notice of £500 per sign, or prosecution, which could lead to a fine of up to £2,500 if the offender is convicted.
Wiltshire Council permits signs advertising community (non-profit) events, as long as approval from the highways team has been granted in advance, and the following conditions are met:
• The event has a minimum £5m public liability insurance in place
• Those placing the signs are responsible for any third-party claims for damages
• Proposed sign locations being agreed by Highways Team and do not compromise highway passage or safety
• Dates of erection and removal are agreed prior to installation
• Signs do not exceed 0.6m2 in size
If, following installation, the local Highway Authority is challenged or receives complaints about a sign, the approval would be reviewed, with the possibility that the signs are required to be removed.