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Camden Council has reportedly had over 1,000 complaints about the illegal fly-posting - the clean-up bill of which is footed by the tax-paying public and is estimated to be £250,000 a year.
The council, in a move backed by the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, has brought out Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO), the criteria of which is defined as causing "harassment, alarm or distress", and somehow the fly posters fit the bill. According to Keep Britain Tidy chief executive Alan Woods, Sony and BMG save £8m a year by "illegally" advertising by fly-posting in Camden alone.
Jane Roberts, leader of Camden Council, told the BBC: "Fly posting is a similar sort of behaviour to graffiti... [it] has a detrimental impact on the value of property and contributes to people's fear of crime and, as a result, to actual criminal behaviour, which is why we are seeking to outlaw it."
BMG will be contesting the ASBO. Sony had no comment.
The court hearing is at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on June 14th.
DiScuss: Does fly posting cause you alarm and distress? Do you think it's ugly? Have you fly-posted for your gigs and noticed a difference in numbers through the door? What's to stop vindictive little shits making their own fake Sony/BMG posters and fly-posting them everywhere, with the labels taking the blame?
