Crackdown on mobile advertising hoardings

Date published: 03/02/2006

A crackdown on mobile advertising hoardings alongside motorways and main roads around the North West is set to take place after government ministers urged planning officers to take action.

The initiative has been welcomed by Rochdale's Liberal Democrat Euro-MP Chris Davies, who says that hundreds of old lorry trailers are now being used as mobile billboards in fields across the North West.

Farmers with land adjoining motorways have responded to offers from advertising agencies to make some extra money.

Planning guidelines insist that advertising is out of place in open countryside, and road safety campaigners are concerned that the hoardings may provide a dangerous distraction to drivers.  But local authorities have been reluctant to take enforcement action as they fear landowners may be able to sidestep the proceedings by moving offending trailers.

Last year Chris Davies wrote to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, calling for changes in the law to link the prosecution to the ownership of fields rather than to individual trailers in a bid to curb the proliferation of the advertising.

Now Planning Minister Yvette Cooper has made clear that the government is committed to tackling the problem.

A new national database will be launched later this year, containing information on companies who distract drivers and blight the countryside by advertising illegally beside motorways, and this will assist local planning
authorities in enforcing the law.

New guidance for local authorities on the control of outdoor advertisements will also provide greater clarity and advice. In addition the government is seeking assurances from companies believed to be advertising illegally that
this practice will cease.

Chris Davies has welcomed the announcement as a step towards removing the blight of trailer advertising.

He commented:  "I am glad the government has moved to address the problem before Britain risks following the USA in allowing advertising hoardings to blight roads throughout the countryside. What was once an interesting novelty is quickly becoming an ugly nuisance.

"Local councils need to mount some high profile prosecutions.  These may provide a deterrent and will certainly help to clarify the legal situation."

The National Farmers' Union has told its members that trailers used in this way do need planning permission and has warned them that they risk prosecution and possible fines of up to £1,000 plus costs.

Drivebymedia.co.uk are one of the agencies selling space on roadside trailers.  Advertisers may pay up to £190 a week for the use of a hoarding that may be seen by tens of thousands of people every day.