London Local Authorities Act 1995

10 Placards and posters

In its application to a participating council, section 225 of the Act of 1990 (power to remove or obliterate placards and posters) shall have effect as though subsections (3), (4) and (5) of that section were replaced by the following subsections:—

“(3) The council of a London borough may give notice in writing to a person who displays or causes to be displayed a placard or poster in respect of which they may exercise the powers conferred by subsection (1)—

(a) that in their opinion it is displayed in contravention of regulations made under section 220;

(b) requiring him to remove or obliterate it before the expiry of a period being not less than two days from the service of the notice, specified in the notice; and

(c) that if he does not do so, they intend to remove or obliterate it after the expiry of the period and recover from him the expenses reasonably incurred by them in so doing.

(4) Where a notice has been duly served under subsection (3) and the poster or placard to which it relates has not been removed or obliterated before the expiry of the period specified in the notice, the council of the London borough may remove or obliterate it and may recover from the person on whom the notice was served the expenses reasonably incurred by them in so doing; but in any proceedings for the recovery of such expenses it shall be for the council to show that the poster or placard was displayed in contravention of regulations made under section 220.

(5) If a poster or placard is removed or obliterated pursuant to a notice under this section and within 28 days thereof another poster or placard is displayed on the same premises, in addition to the power under the foregoing provisions of this section the council of the London borough may serve a notice under subsection (3) on the owner or occupier of the premises on which the poster or placard is displayed, and subsection (4) shall, subject to subsection (6) apply to that person.

(6) In its application to a case in which a notice is served on any person under subsection (5), subsection (4) shall have effect with the omission of the right to recover from that person the expenses of removal or obliteration.

(7) If a poster or placard is removed or obliterated pursuant to a notice under this section, the council of the London borough may exhibit a notice in the vicinity of the place where the poster or placard was displayed, stating that the display of an advertisement in contravention of regulations made under section 220 is a criminal offence punishable by a fine under section 224.

(8) A notice under subsection (7) may not be exhibited without the consent of the occupier of the premises, unless he cannot after reasonable enquiry be identified.

(9) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (3), a person shall be deemed to display or cause to be displayed a placard or poster for the purposes of that subsection if the placard or poster gives publicity to his goods, trade, business or other concerns except when the placard or poster is displayed on a hoarding or other structure designed for the display of advertisements.”.