FLY-POSTERS are a menace for town centres across the country.

Ruth Jolley looks at the problem in Bolton

DEPENDING on your point of view fly-posting is either an advertiser's dream or a blot on the urban landscape.

It seems whenever there is a vacant property in Bolton town centre examples of this particular form of illegal advertising are plastered on the walls, windows and doors, usually advertising local music events, records, local events, nightclubs or small political groups.

It is a problem Bolton shares with practically every town and city in the country. In London, fly-posting has reached epidemic proportions with the authorities reportedly having to spend £100,000 a year controlling the problem.

Fly-posting hot spots in Bolton include the former Fads property on Great Moor Street, properties at the junction of Bark Street and Knowsley Street and certain areas of Oxford Street. Council workers spend about 10 hours a week removing them.

But despite the fact the people responsible could face a fine of up to £1,000, fly-posting remains a common sight.

This is probably because fly-posting is a medium through which advertisers can display their message in a prominent location for little cost. Government figures reckon that it would cost between £1 and £1.50 a poster for a two week fly-posting campaign. Advertising legitimately on hoarding would cost about £1,400.

Some small political groups also favour fly-posting because they have difficulty attracting mainstream media coverage.

Legally, it is difficult for councils to prosecute because of problems in tracking down the culprits.

Julian Rothwell, manager of urban regeneration at the council, says: "The council has spent millions doing up Victoria Square and fly-posting does detract from it.

"Glue from the posters stains the buildings and attracts dirt."

Bolton Council recently toughened its stance, putting posters put up across the town centre warning fly-posters they will face prosecution if caught.

Each week town centre ambassadors compile a report pinpointing fly-poster hot spots. Commercial services staff then remove the posters once they have the property owner's permission. Sometimes this can take time as they have to consult the land registry to find out who the owners are.

There have been incidents where ambassadors have caught people attempting to put up the posters - but now to avoid detection bill posters have started operating as early as 5am.

Mr Rothwell says although there has been a drop in the number of fly-posters it is difficult to bring prosecutions.

He adds: "It is the venue of the event being advertised that would be prosecuted. But it is hard to find out who actually is responsible for putting the posters up. The venue might be a pub but it might not be the publican putting them up.

"We would then go after the owners of the property that the fly-poster is on. But we would have to be able to prove that they knew the fly-poster was there - which is difficult to do."

Bolton Town Centre manager Cathy Savage is also involved in the fight against fly-posting, a practice she calls "disgusting".

"The Town Centre ambassadors report any fly-posting and the council looks towards prosecuting. It is an important issue.."

Various councils across the country have tried different methods of ridding town centres of fly-posting.

Glasgow city centre has a designated poster site but Mr Rothwell says doing the same thing in Bolton would be too problematic to police.

Meanwhile, neighbouring town Wigan has enlisted the help of the probation service to remove fly-posters. Wigan town centre manager Mike Matthews explains that a team of about six or seven from the Greater Manchester probation service - called the grime busters who even wear special uniforms - regularly go round the town centre removing chewing gum, graffiti, fly-posters, as well as cutting back overgrown bushes.

He says: "It started two years ago. The team uses a low pressure steam machine which actually dissolves chewing gum and is also good at removing fly-posters."

Mr Matthews added: "Fly-posters are big business. There is a lot of money involved in it."