Leicester post office threatened with £1,200 fine for ‘flyposting’

A Leicester post office has been threatened with a £1,200 fine for putting up signs outside its premises amid a crackdown on “illegal” notices. 

According to local reports, staff of the Post Office in Clarendon Park were astonished when Leicester City Council wardens told them to tear down 12 signs from bollards along Queens Road, or face a £100 fine for each one.

The spokesperson for the branch told LeicestershireLive, “The warden rang and asked us to remove them. They said we were illegally flyposting, which is puzzling because why would the post office supply us with something which was illegal?”

The council’s Clean Streets team is cracking down on what it is calling “illegal flyposting” along the popular shopping street.

“They told us we need to take those [signs] off [the bollards] because otherwise there’s a £100 fine, and we had 12 out there on the bollards, [so] that’s £1,200 every day that they’re there,” the branch spokesperson said.

A Leicester City Council spokesperson told LeicestershireLive: “Flyposting is a criminal act that can result in the issue of a fine of £150 (reduced to £100 if paid within 14 days) for each offence.”

They described flyposters as people who “usually advertise events with posters, stickers or bills that are put up on buildings or street furniture without the permission of the property owner”.

They added, “People can report flyposting directly to the city council and our city wardens will investigate. So far this year, we’ve issued 116 fines for flyposting across the city.”

This comes a week after it was reported by Asian Trader how a Londis store owner in Bexley in Dartford has said that he is feeling harassed by authorities after he was fined heftily while banners advertising his store were taken down without any prior intimation.

Retailer Nishi Patel, who owns SKN Convenience Ltd Londis Bexley park store, has stated that Dartford Borough Council has removed his banners advertising his stores without informing him despite his contact number being present on the same poster. Not only were the banners removed but Patel also received a fine of £100.

Patel told Asian Trader, “My store is approaching its 20th anniversary and we are having a celebration in the store over the weekend. To spread the word, my staff has put some banners around the area.”

“Within 24 hours, the authorities took down two of my banners. And then a few days later, they sent me a fine for £100,” he said.

Patel stated that this is first time such a thing has happened as he has been putting up posters and banners around the area to advertise his business and never faced such an issue before.

He said, “I don’t understand how my banners were being a nuisance to anyone. They clearly was not rubbish because they were brand new. They were intact properly. They got my photo and contact number too printed so they could have simply rung me and said, ‘look, you’re not allowed to have your banners here so come and take them off’. 

“Now I have lost £100 worth of banners plus I’ve been fined £100. They took two down and took photos of the others in the car park but I believe the car park is private so can’t do much about it.”

Patel told Asian Trader, “It is our 20th anniversary so I thought it will be nice to bring together the community and celebrate the fact that we have been serving them for two decades. We are small business owners and I feel harassed here. My banner was definitely not rubbish.”