No roadside ban on pub signs

The Highways Agency has dismissed reports that it wants to ban roadside ads for pubs to halt drink-driving.

The Agency objected to a retrospective planning application for the sign on the busy A303 directing people to the Black Dog in Chilmark, Wiltshire. The pub was asked to remove the sign.

Reports in the media put the Highway Agency's objection down to fears of drink-driving and suggested the move could set a precedent.

But in a new statement, the Highways Agency put it down to a "misinterpretation" of the wording of its initial response to council planners.

The statement said: "The Highways Agency's initial response to the planning application for a roadside advertising sign adjacent to the A303, for the Black Dog pub, Chilmark, Wiltshire, should not be seen as introducing new policy or in any way setting a new precedent.

"The Agency accepts its initial response was open to misinterpretation and, in a follow-up response, subsequently clarified that there was no intention to imply that the signing of public houses could encourage drink-driving.

"The Agency's important role in these circumstances is to advise the local planning authority about matters that raise road safety concerns for the travelling public.

"In this particular instance, the Agency considered that the advertising sign in question would present a potential distraction to drivers and accordingly recommended that the application be refused on safety grounds.''

The initial letter to West Wiltshire District Council from local Highways Agency representative Jacqui Ashman said: "We do have concerns about this application on the grounds of highway safety.

"The sign contains several lines of text and is therefore distracting to motorists. It is also advertising the use of a public house to motorists and potentially providing the temptation to drink and drive whilst using a long distance trunk road."