Some of the UK’s largest firms are being targeted by a campaign that
claims they are acting irresponsibly by erecting billboards beside
England’s roads.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England says the advertising is
‘spreading like a rash’ on farmland alongside main roads, and often has
no planning permission. A CPRE survey suggests there are now 900
roadside billboard sites across England. CPRE believes most have no
regulatory consent.
Costa Coffee, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonald’s, Leisure Parcs and
Tesco are all on the CPRE’s list of 23 ‘eyesore merchants’. The
pressure group emphasizes the companies have not necessarily broken the
law, but are ‘defacing the countryside as well as reducing road safety
and undermining government policy to keep land beside motorways free of
unsuitable advertising’.
Some local authorities have begun to take action against unauthorized
advertising by large companies. This year senior executives from music
industry company Sony agreed to stop all fly-posting in England and
Wales after two of its senior executives were served with anti-social
behaviour orders – normally reserved for unruly teenagers – by Camden
council in London.
