Wiltshire Council enforcing stricter penalties 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. 

Cllr Nick Holder, Cabinet Member for Highways and Street Scene, said: “Fly-posting is not only unsightly, it is also against the law, and that's why we’re increasing the FPN amount and reinforcing our commitment to tackling environmental crime. 

“As per our Business Plan, we want to ensure Wiltshire remains a beautiful county for both residents and visitors to enjoy, and we will continue to take action against fly-posting, littering and fly-tipping wherever we find it throughout the county. 

“We will, however, take a commonsense approach to this, and in most cases, we will ask people to remove any illegal advertising in the first instance. However, if people ignore this, or if they are repeat or large-scale offenders, we will act and issue fixed penalty notices or prosecute. 

“We also know that there are some community groups, town and parish councils who are keen to showcase their events, such as fetes or fayres on council land. We are happy to work with them prior to the event to obtain the required approvals, but we would ask for at least four weeks’ notice. Applicants will need to state the reason for the signage, its location, how long it will be in place for, and the types of signage to be used, so the application can be considered.”