A LONG-AWAITED crackdown on Worcester's A-boards is finally coming into force - with the prospect of £80 fines and even court appearances for shops "cluttering" the city centre.

The city council has agreed to adopt tough laws to launch an attack on the blight, saying the sheer amount of A-frames have been "tolerated" long enough.

During a planning committee meeting this afternoon, councillors said the clutter in city streets has gone "haywire".

The council's chief investigator Jonathan Lester showed them images of the likes of Mealcheapen Street, St Swithin's Street, New Street, The Shambles and Broad Street with boards all over the place.

The crackdown means the A-boards will now be limited to just one per trader, with a maximum size limit of one metre by one metre, and 1.8 metres of the pavement must be clear for shoppers to walk past.

Tying them to lampposts, benches and bollards is now outlawed, and they cannot rotate, move or present a "hazard" to the public.

They must also be adjacent to the business in question.

Mr Lester, the council's enforcement officer, called The Shambles "an obstacle course" and said he would "come along and put it in the back a van" if need be.

During the debate Councillor Simon Cronin admitted that he feared the impact on popular city businesses like The Farriers Arms pub in Fish Street and The Ginger Pig cafe in Copenhagen Street, both of which have A-boards a considerable distance from their premises, but it was voted through unanimously.

"Some of these businesses, like those two are tucked away in side streets with very little footfall but they really benefit from the advertising, so we need to be very sensitive about this," he said.

"This is a problem which has exercised our minds for a very long time, I've been around eight years and we've been talking about it since then, and Derek (Prodger) tells me you can double that.

"One of the things I have become aware of though is the actual benefits of A-boards, until I had looked at this in detail I had thought they were all a nuisance, but they do provide useful information for shoppers and offer vital advertising, especially for independent shops.

"Given the fragile state of the retail economy we do have to be careful we don't take steps to make life more difficult for vulnerable businesses.

"If we're not careful we'll remove all the useful A-boards and end up keeping all the ones which serve no purpose at all, because they're right outside, and it's those ones which are actually the blasted nuisance."

Bob Pender, from Worcestershire County Council's highways team, said "if we took a hard line, every A-board could be taken down as a nuisance", but insisted there was "no appetite" to do that.

"We appreciate there is a delicate balance to be struck, it's not an easy situation to deal with and I am open to suggestions as to how it can be flexible."

Councillor Paul Denham said: "I've been on this committee 15 years and in 2000 we had nowhere near as many A-boards as now, nor was there anywhere near as much clutter.

"From the retailer's view it's all about advertising, I have no problem with that, it is free advertising.

"But if no-one enforces it, it's likely to keep spreading.

"This policy is right, it strikes the right balance and provides an even playing field - I don't agree we should relax it even if we are able to, there is far, far too much clutter generally on the High Street."

Councillor Lynn Denham said she did not want the frames to have a "negative impact on the shoppers' experience".

Councillor Jo Hodges said the boards had gone "haywire", while fellow politicians insisted that the policy provides a level playing field for all retailers.

The council's cabinet member for cleaner and greener, Councillor Andy Roberts, also backed it, calling it a "growing problem".

Mr Lester said it could launch immediately, but he will contact all traders first and start enforcing it from April 1.

Under the laws, mainly taken from the Town & Country Planning Act, traders can be fined immediately and face having the board removed by a council officer after two days if it contravenes the guidance, followed by prosecution for persistent breaches.

The crackdown will also utilise an element of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, with the city council's civil enforcement officers taking the bulk of the responsibility for monitoring the situation.

Shops which already stick to the guidelines have nothing to be concerned about, says the council.