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Fly-poster caught on CCTV

James Ducker
3/ 6/2004

THIS is the man council bosses believe is responsible for most of the illegal fly-posting that blights Manchester's streets and cost taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds to clean up.

The M.E.N. was today issued with CCTV footage of the man - who has given his name as David Roberts to town hall chiefs - illegally fly-posting a wall in Landcross Street, Fallowfield.

Now they are urging people who may have information leading to his whereabouts to come forward.

Pete North, director of operations at the council, said he believed Mr Roberts was one of about six people responsible for 90 per cent of illegal fly-posting in the city.

He said: "We believe this man to be David Roberts, of a company called Kodamedia, but we need the public's help to find out where he lives so that we can initiate legal proceedings.

"He fly-posts persistently on brick, glass and metal surfaces, refuses to pledge to stop fly-posting and refuses to give us his address.

"This particular offence happened at night when the offender presuably thought no one would be watching. We want these `griminals' to remember that we are watching them day and night."

Manchester city council is also preparing to issue a number of record company bosses with anti-social behaviour orders as part of their campaign.

Camden council, in London, has already served three orders on marketing executives at music giants Sony and BMG.

In February, Manchester town hall chiefs named and shamed record companies Warner and Sony, whose artists include Madonna and Beyonce, for "defacing" Manchester.

It followed work by ENCAMS, the group behind the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, to get the world's leading record companies to stop fly-posting.

Coun Paul Murphy, the council's executive member for direct services and the man who spearheaded Manchester's successful 100 Days To Clean A City campaign, said the steps taken by Camden would now pave the way for Manchester to follow suit.

He said: "We warned the record companies to pledge to stop fly-posting several months ago, and while many complied, the likes of Sony ignored ENCAMS's requests. If they don't stop now, we will have no choice but to issue anti-social behaviour orders like Camden.

Magistrates can enforce the order to stop anti-social behaviour and if individuals fail to comply they face a maximum of five years in prison.

Should sentencing be tougher for illegal fly-posting?

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