Billboard company fined for illegal hoarding

An advertising company which unlawfully erected a large billboard on the side of a house in Battersea has been forced to remove it in the face of impending legal action.

Vista Poster Advertising Ltd, based in Compton Road, Wimbledon, removed the large illuminated hoarding from the flank wall of a house in Battersea Bridge Road just two days before the company was due to stand trial for breaching planning laws.

The council first ordered the company to remove the hoarding in January 2008 because it did not have planning permission. The company did not comply and insisted it was not guilty of breaking any planning rules.

But two days before the case was due to be heard by the local magistrate’s court the company dismantled the hoarding.

And having pleaded not guilty at an earlier court hearing, the company finally admitted four offences when the case was heard at South Western Magistrates Court on October 2.

Vista Poster Advertising Ltd was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay £3,000 towards the council's prosecution costs.

Planning chairman councillor Leslie McDonnell said: "The law is quite clear that an advertising hoarding like this needs planning consent. Yet it was only after nearly two years of denials and obfuscation that the company finally decided to obey the law.”

He added: "What I would really like to see are the courts passing appropriate sentences that reflect this type of behaviour so that there is a real deterrent for companies tempted to break the law this way."

The maximum fine companies face for breaching this type of planning law is £2,500 for each offence.

 

Roger Milne

5 November 2009