Crackdown starts on illegal advertising

A new crackdown is underway around the Westwood Cross area to tackle the problem of illegal advertising on signs and parked vehicles.

The first areas to be targeted are the former Pearce Signs roundabout and the field opposite Westwood Cross.

“It’s something that been gradually getting worse, with local people complaining about the impact it’s having on the area,” according to Cllr. Simon Moores, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services. “As a council, we’re also worried about the impact it could have on drivers, as adverts like this tend to be distracting. We would clearly wish to avoid any potential for an accident, because someone is distracted by an advert, rather than concentrating on the road.”

Businesses can only advertise what they do on their own premises. If they want to advertise anywhere else, they need to get consent from the council, even if they have already received approval from another landowner. The council would be unlikely to give that consent, as this would mean that adverts could then appear everywhere across Thanet.

If they fail to get the consent, then under a new law introduced in the last few years, it’s classed as anti-social behaviour and is a criminal offence. Once the council takes action, the business being advertised can be fined for every day they leave the advert up. If they fail to remove them, then the council can take the adverts and destroy them.

Another problem that’s emerged recently is using parked vehicles at the side of the road to advertise businesses. Different to sign written company vehicles, these are being sign written to specifically advertise a company and are then parked in the same spot for a long period of time. Examples already seen in Thanet have been advertising companies that sell cars or offer to pay cash for various goods.

The practice is also classed as anti-social behaviour and, in other parts of the country, a tough line’s been taken, with the vehicles being taken away and crushed.

Cllr. Moores added: “We’re receiving complaints about both types of illegal advertising and we’re determined to do something about them, as these are starting to clutter up the area. We’d like to make it clear that this decision is about cracking down on companies which are advertising illegally and this is nothing to do with local or charitable events.”