However, if left unchecked, fly-posting can soon proliferate as businesses take advantage of "free" advertising spaces.

The visual impact of illegal advertising can soon be detrimental to the area in much the same way graffiti can be a sign of urban decay.

Fly-posting tends to fall into three different categories.

The cheaply produced posters advertising local events such as laminated flyers attached to pedestrian crossings and other street furniture.

These can spread like litter in a short space of time, distracting drivers, especially if attached to signposts and traffic lights, and are the most common forms of illegal advertisements locally.

Then there are the more expensively produced posters, designed for use on permitted advertising sites, but are posted onto empty buildings or telecommunications boxes.

These tend to be associated with record companies or national events.
The third type are those displayed by political or pressure groups, coming in a range of styles and on an ad hoc basis.

Local authorities have various legal tools to control fly-posting, including prosecution of offenders, the ability to remove posters immediately if they are attached to highway structures and, more recently, the power to issue fixed penalty notices.

The law also distinguishes between the person affixing the fly poster and the beneficiary. In some cases, both parties (they are often not the same person) can be subject to enforcement action.

In recent months, Adur and Worthing have taken a more robust line on fly-posting to try to combat the proliferation of illegal advertising before it gets out of hand.

Incidents of fly-posting can be reported to both councils through the existing graffiti reporting line (use the search engine for each of the websites) and is usually removed within 24 hours of a report.


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