East Devon traders asked to get on board with A-boards

Devon County Council will be taking action to ensure that advertising boards are not illegally obstructing pavements.

Devon County Council will be taking action to ensure that advertising boards are not illegally obstructing pavements.

The county council's highway superintendents will be inspecting sites across the county to ensure that pavements are de-cluttered.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: "Local businesses and traders have our utmost support, especially during these difficult economic times, but access and safety must be maintained. Signs can be an obstruction if they are not displayed in a safe manner which enables everyone to use footways".

If anyone is injured by signs they could claim from the relevant business, so businesses are advised to ensure their insurance covers them.

The owners of unauthorised signs will be asked to remove them, but when they are unavailable or repeat the offence, the signs will be removed by the county council. A charge of �30 will be made for the recovery of each sign.