Gateshead company fined for illegal placement of advertisements
A company has been fined £824 for the unauthorised placement of advertising at a busy road junction and on a dual carriageway in Gateshead.
Throughout 2020 the council received numerous complaints regarding unauthorised advertisements for Blue Box Storage in the west of Gateshead, most significantly two that were mounted onto trailers and positioned in prominent locations at the side of Derwenthaugh Road, opposite the Northbound access to the A1, and the at the side of Chainbridge Road, Blaydon underneath the Blaydon Highway flyover.
Our enforcement team contacted Blue Box Storage multiple times advising them that advertisements were illegal, before finally writing to them in August 2020 to inform them that due to concerns about road safety and their impact on the visual appeal of the areas in which they were placed, they must be removed immediately, or we would prosecute the company without further notice.
While the advertisements were removed, they very quickly reappeared and legal action was taken. The matter was heard before South Tyne Magistrates Court on 12 April 2022. Blue Box Storage pleaded guilty to two offences under the Town and Country Planning, Control of Advertisements Regulations 2007 and were fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £624.
Anneliese Hutchinson, Service Director for Climate Change, Compliance, Planning and Transport at Gateshead Council said:
"Companies can't just place adverts where they please. Highway safety as well as the visual impact on neighbourhoods has to be taken into account
"Blue Box Storage blatantly chose to ignore previous warnings to remove their illicit advertising, and we were left with little option other than to prosecute. Advertising can be an ugly blight on our communities if not properly regulated, and we will continue to take action against any offending companies doing the same."
A company has been fined £824 for the unauthorised placement of advertising at a busy road junction and on a dual carriageway in Gateshead.
Throughout 2020 the council received numerous complaints regarding unauthorised advertisements for Blue Box Storage in the west of Gateshead, most significantly two that were mounted onto trailers and positioned in prominent locations at the side of Derwenthaugh Road, opposite the Northbound access to the A1, and the at the side of Chainbridge Road, Blaydon underneath the Blaydon Highway flyover.
Our enforcement team contacted Blue Box Storage multiple times advising them that advertisements were illegal, before finally writing to them in August 2020 to inform them that due to concerns about road safety and their impact on the visual appeal of the areas in which they were placed, they must be removed immediately, or we would prosecute the company without further notice.
While the advertisements were removed, they very quickly reappeared and legal action was taken. The matter was heard before South Tyne Magistrates Court on 12 April 2022. Blue Box Storage pleaded guilty to two offences under the Town and Country Planning, Control of Advertisements Regulations 2007 and were fined £200 and ordered to pay costs of £624.
Anneliese Hutchinson, Service Director for Climate Change, Compliance, Planning and Transport at Gateshead Council said:
"Companies can't just place adverts where they please. Highway safety as well as the visual impact on neighbourhoods has to be taken into account
"Blue Box Storage blatantly chose to ignore previous warnings to remove their illicit advertising, and we were left with little option other than to prosecute. Advertising can be an ugly blight on our communities if not properly regulated, and we will continue to take action against any offending companies doing the same."
