Council enforces stricter penalty for fly-posting

Wiltshire Council has increased the penalty fine for fly-posting from £75 to £500.

A council is 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 introduced after feedback from local communities reporting more incidents of fly-posting.

Wiltshire councillor Nick Holder, 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.

“We will, however, take a common-sense approach to this, and in most cases, we will ask people to remove any illegal advertising in the first instance," he added.

"However, if people ignore this, or if they are repeat or large-scale offenders, we will act and issue fixed penalty notices or prosecute."

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.

It 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.