Unauthorised A-boards to be removed

Unauthorised A-boards - the A- or T-shaped advertising boards placed outside shops - are to be removed throughout the Royal Borough in a bid to reduce street clutter.

Officers are visiting every shopping area in the borough over the next couple of weeks and any unauthorised boards will be confiscated. Shopkeepers would then have to pay a £90 recovery charge to get them back.

A-boards can only be displayed if the shopkeeper has a licence. In conservation areas - which includes large parts of Windsor and Maidenhead's main shopping areas - no A-boards are permitted at all.

Cllr Colin Rayner, lead member for highways and streetcare, said: "If you look at a shopping area such as Peascod Street in Windsor or Maidenhead High Street, there is already a lot of street furniture including lights, signs, benches and planters.

"A-boards make the area look untidy and more importantly, could be dangerous for pushchair and wheelchair users. When the council issues a licence for A-boards there are a number of road safety criteria to meet."

The council sent out letters to shopkeepers in town centres last week reminding those in conservation areas that A-boards are not permitted and advising others that they need to obtain a licence to display an A-board.

To apply for an A-board licence log on to www.rbwm.gov.uk

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