The Highways Agency, which is concerned about the threat to road safety, is planning to write to local authorities urging them to act against outdoor companies that put up billboards without planning permission. And ministers are to consider a change in the law to make prosecutions easier.
The crackdown follows pressure from MPs about the growing number of posters near motorways, sometimes on mobile ad vans. The Labour MP Ben Chapman said there was now "a plethora of advertisements" in fields next to the M6.
"The point is that if these posters do not distract, they do not work," he said. "If using a mobile phone while driving is now illegal, albeit much ignored, trying to get people to take down a telephone phone number or website address by whatever means while driving at speed is no less questionable."
Stephen Ladyman, the transport minister, said there was much "anecdotal evidence" that such ads could be dangerous but admitted that studies into the problem had been inconclusive.
He said he would raise the issue with the Highways Agency and discuss with fellow ministers "whether other powers can be deployed or whether future legislation should be modified to include provisions to deal with this problem".
The ±±¾©Èü³µpk10 for the Protection of Rural England has joined the calls for the billboards to be banned on the grounds that they disfigure the countryside.
"These signs are a blot on the landscape, not to mention a very dangerous traffic hazard," it said.
.jpg)
.jpg)